Mega Man ZXA: Rebirth
by NeoNazo356
Summary: In the past he has wronged, but sought repentance. Another has lost, yet has begun to move forward. As actions of the past begin to affect the present, the Game of Destiny nears its climax. Is now being rewritten
1. Prologue

Just one month ago, there had been a rash outburst of Maverick attacks all across Legion's territory; highway attacks, gravitational anomalies, mass reanimations of hundreds of discarded mechaniloids, and an attack on a train from Hunter Base that was destined for Legion. Not necessarily in that order either.

Since that attack, there had been rumors of a "Mega Man" of sorts appearing in a pillar of light. Of course, all details pertaining to that incident had been kept under lock and keep by Legion itself. In fact, _any_ information pertaining to the previous rash of incidents had been covered up too.

As far as anyone knew, the only other Maverick outbreak had taken place five years ago, during the peak of Serpent's career as leader and CEO of Slither Inc.

Ten years prior to that time and in the following years after, it was reported that several hundred people had gone missing. Of course in reality, it would be more accurate to say that several _thousand_ people had disappeared.

In the brief time frame between incidents, there had been at that time too, several Maverick attacks, all in different regions of Inner Peace, where the Slither Inc. building stood against the horizon.

At that time, there too were "Mega Men". However people's stories were dismissed as everyone had a different idea as to what he, she, or _they_ looked like. Some said they wore red and attacked with a sword, while some said they wore green and flew through the skies like a bird. Others said they were like a ninja and threw energy knives, while some said they used a tremendous brute force and shot fireballs. Some even said that the "Mega Men" could move through the water like a sea creature.

Shortly after the peak of the disappearances and sightings, it was reported to the public that there was a massive "Power Surge" at the Slither Inc. building, which was why one of the Main Energy Panels of the Slither Inc. Main Office Building had broken off and destroyed around an eighth of Inner Peace's homes and structures.

It was never made public what the source of the power surge was, or just how many people died that day. However after that, Legion stepped in and took more direct control of the region once again.

After both attacks, people were contented with what they were told and lived their lives as leisurely as they had before, almost as though nothing had happened at all. If ignorance were bliss, this territory had it in spades.

However, among those unknowing masses stood one in particular who had borne witness to such attacks, and knew that there was more to this world then was being let on.

As he stood apart from the public that were content to live their lives blissfully unaware of things to come, events that would alter the fate of the world once again began to take root.

* * *

**I do not own Mega Man ZX or Mega Man ZX Advent.**

**For what I DO own, I will tell you when it becomes relevant.**


	2. Cyber Space

**Mega Man Zero 2 Soundtrack - Cyberelf**

At that very same time, in a world far apart and long forgotten by the ebb and flow of time.

Cyberspace: A mysterious world where the souls of reploids, cyber elves, and even some humans converge. It was never exactly known how, when, or even why this space was created, if it were at all _created_. All that was known is that it _was_.

In its center stood, or floated, that which would be considered the guardian of its denizens, Mother Elf. In ages past, she was created as the ultimate Cyber Elf in returning Mavericks back to a state of sanity.

It was at that very moment that a select few from times past met with her. The fate of two worlds invariably at stake. Cyber Elf X, Cyber Elf Zero, and Cyber Elf Ciel stood before Mother Elf. Or, rather floated since such things were relative.

"Mother Elf," X spoke, "do you sense it as well?"

Mother Elf nodded. In her new form, she had the visage a silver-haired woman, her eyes perpetually closed. She was draped in pure white robes, and glowed with energies from the Flame, Thunder, and Ice elements, as well as a plethora of other elements not harnesed by humans.

"I do," she said. "The walls between The Living and the Cyber World have begun to thin."

"Mother Elf," Ciel spoke, "what can we do about it?"

Mother Elf thought solemnly. "The balance of power is about to tip, the world will be brought into chaos. It is clear that balance will need to be restored."

"Mother Elf," X spoke. "Let me go and set things right."

"I should go too," Zero spoke. "I didn't finish my job the first time around, so I should go too."

Mother Elf shook her head. "I'm afraid you cannot traverse The Expanse between our two worlds. You simply do not have the energy to do it."

X and Zero frowned a bit at this.

"Normally I'd have sent you there as soon as possible," Mother Elf spoke. "The fact is, your stay in The Living had already been prolonged beyond its limits. I cannot let you traverse The Expanse. I am sorry."

"But then what can we do?" Ciel asked. "Surely there must be _someone _who can traverse The Expanse."

Mother Elf nodded. "There is, and for the longest time he has been looking for a way to repent. I kept telling him that the Baby Elves had corrupted him, but he insists that he betrayed everyone of his own volition, and that it was no one's fault but his own."

"Baby Elves..." Ciel spoke. "Wait, do you mean-"

At that moment, a pink and gold sparkling cyber elf approached them before assuming his own form of recognition. "Why hello Ms. Ciel. Its been a while since we've talked hasn't it?"

"Elpizo, good to see you," Zero said. "How've you been?"

"I've been most excellent," Elpizo spoke. "Oh, and X," he said facing X. "I'm truly sorry about destroying your body and letting the Dark Elf loose. If I hadn't, then things could've turned out differently."

X shook his head. "You've apologized enough times. Like we've said, it wasn't your fault. It was the Baby Elves'."

Elpizo frowned. "Then why do I still feel guilty about it?"

Mother Elf coughed, gaining everyone's attention. "Elpizo, I can assume you know why you've been called here?"

He nodded. "It is because the balance of power in The Living is about to tip, and you need someone to restore balance."

Mother Elf nodded.

"I don't see where I fit into this though," Elpizo said. "If X, Zero, or both of them are going, then why am I before you? If you mind me asking."

Mother Elf smiled in his direction, implying what she was thinking.

"Wait a minute..." Elpizo said in thought. His eyes suddenly widened. "You want _ME_ to go?"

Mother Elf nodded.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold the phone," Elpizo said shaking his hands. "Surely there must be someone more qualified then I for this."

"You underestimate your own worth Elpizo,"Mother Elf spoke. "Out of all those who've sought power, you are one of the few who's repented after their defeat. That alone has left a strong enough bond to The Living, which will_ just_ allow you to cross The Expanse."

"But surely X or Zero could go in my stead," Elpizo spoke. "After all, I'm not a hero like they are."

"Do not underestimate your own value," Mother Elf spoke in a calming manner. "Although your approach was different, and the negative results could've been avoided, what you were trying to do was what any hero would do."

Elpizo looked around nervously. "Are you sure you want me? Surely X and Zero-"

"Elpizo," Zero said putting a hand on his shoulder, "X and I have been fighting Mavericks for years, and our fates were extended far beyond our own times. Our time is done, our decedents are there, but you have a gift that we others don't."

Elpizo thought to himself. "Well, I can understand that after being in The Living for over a hundred years you'd want to rest."

Mother Elf looked to him awaiting his decision.

"I suppose I can go," he said after a heavy sigh.

Mother Elf smiled. "Thank you Elpizo. However, when you go there are two things you have to do."

"What are they?" Elpizo asked.

"First," Mother Elf said holding up a finger, "you must find something with enough power to permanently anchor you to The Living. A biometal that shall serve as your new home."

"Second," she said holding up a second finger, "you must find a Chosen One, or your Biomatch. He or she will be the one who will help you most."

Elpizo nodded. "I will do my best. But how will I know who my Chosen One is?"

"When their moment of fate presents itself, you will know," Mother Elf spoke.

Elpizo nodded. "I understand."

"The way to The Living will only be open for a short time," Ciel said. "It'll be some time before we can help you more."

"How long will it take?" Elpizo asked.

"That's hard to say," Zero said, "since in the Cyber World, _time_ doesn't have any meaning."

Elpizo nodded. "I'll leave then."

"Elpizo, before you go," Ciel said stopping him.

"Yes Ms. Ciel," Elpizo spoke formally.

"My little sister still exists in The Living," Ciel said. "If you see her, tell her I don't want to see her here for a good long while. I know it may sound mean, but I have the best intentions for her in mind."

Elpizo nodded. "It will be an honor to work for you again."

"Just don't go and blow up The Living," Zero said with his arms crossed. "I still want there to be a world to _go _to when my time comes."

* * *

After traversing the seemingly vast distances between Cyberspace and through The Expanse, Elpizo finally found the first circuit in The Living he could use. At the end of this circuit was abandoned lab, in it was housed a dormant Model W fragment, long forgotten, and long since left inactive.

The lab was much like that of any other abandoned laboratory. The floor was slightly submerged in water, wires were sticking from torn out wall panels, and the ceiling lights only worked in a few places. Overall, it was a very depressing place.

_"Man, this place sure is depressing,"_ Elpizo said as he finally came out to a monitor. It had a couple cracks but was still functional. _"Now. Where is that fragment?"_ he wondered as he scanned the laboratory. His eyes eventually landed on the center of the room. At it stood an old-looking electron-pulse generator that was somehow still running. Its energy was being used to suppress the power of a small, triangular-shaped Model W fragment that lay inside.

Elpizo sighed. _"I hope Mother Elf knows what she's doing."_

He transformed into his Elf Mode, which was essentially a glowing ball of light, and floated out of the monitor and into the Model W fragment.

* * *

**Mega Man Zero 2 Soundtrack - Darkelf 2**

Before too long, Elpizo had managed to "install" himself to the Biometal Model W. Now all that needed to be done was to "clean up" any residual programs and recalibrate the biometal into a form that he, and his eventual Chosen One, could use.

While the cyber space in other biometal, the ones made from data of ancient warriors, was bright and colorful or otherwise pure white, this one was completely different. This cyber space was a dark and desolate place, almost like a barren wasteland. Empty. If Elpizo, in the current state he was in, had a nose, it would probably smell like death.

"**WHO DARES... ENTER... MY BE_ING_?"**

Elpizo turned around and was faced by what could only be described as a sinful abomination. It had the semblance of a human on some small part, but the rest was crudely-grafted wires and machinery. Though it seemed to hold great power, it was only a small portion of a greater whole, and in its current state could only do very little.

"So. This is one of those residual programs I've been warned about," Elpizo said as he faced the Weil Remnant. "Not that impressive if you ask me. Hardly even intimidating."

"**IT WAS FOOLISH... TO COME HERE! YOU... SHALL BECOME... NOURISHMENT... FOR MY RE_TURN_!"**

"Heh. Wanna bet?" he asked smugly.

Dark tendrils lashed out from the Weil Remnant, intent on absorbing Elpizo's energy into its own. However before they could even reach him, a barrier of light deflected them, destroying them on touch.

"**WHAT IS... THIS POWER? IT CAN... ONLY BE THE... DARK ELF'S POW_ER_!"**

"Wrong!" Elpizo said as he drew his blade. "I carry with me the blessing of Mother Elf, and if you ever call her Dark Elf again, I will make your end more painful then you can imagine."

"**MOTHER... ELF? WHAT FOOLISHNESS... DO YOU SPEAK! ONLY... DARK ELF... EXI_STS_!"**

"I've heard just about enough of your dribble. I won't allow you to insult Mother Elf a moment longer."

As the Weil remnant began to gather its power for another strike, Elpizo was already upon him. In the instant it took the Weil Remnant to blink, the battle had already ended, its entirety cleaved in twain.

"**HOW CAN... THIS BE? MY POWER... SHOULD BE... IN_VIN_CIBLE!"**

"Be quiet," Elpizo said as he sheathed his blade. "This world doesn't need things like you polluting it."

With one final cry, the fragment of Weil's soul ceased to exist, cast into its own hell, and with that, the only data that existed in the biometal fragment was Elpizo's. With Weil Remnant's passing, a world of light filled the cyber space.

"So, after two hundred years, I'm finally given a chance to help the world. To repent," Elpizo said as he felt himself melt into the biometal fragment. Through the power Biometal had, Elpizo soon learned he could move his new "body" about the world somewhat freely.

"Now, all I need to do is redecorate," Elpizo said to himself as he took hold of his new home. His intent to reshape it was perfectly understandable, since having it even remotely resemble someone as deranged as Weil would be considered a sin. Or at least from his standpoint.

* * *

**Just a couple of translations before we continue.**

**The Expanse: The Expanse is like the "crossroads" between the Cyber World, and "The Living". It is essentially the way to and from the "afterlife".**

**The Living: The Living is the world where all living beings exist. **

**The Expanse and The Living are not official concepts created by Inti Creates. They are ideas used by me to represent the relation between the Cyber World and the Real world, and are thus concepts under my ownership.**


	3. ROCK On!

It was a sunny day in Legion; the bustling city metropolis that rested beneath Legion Headquarters, the centerpiece for the continent's government.

The people walked along at their own pace. Each and every one of them enjoying their relative peace. However, one stood among them who did not move as the masses did. It was something almost undetectable, but his steps were more careful, almost alert.

He was your average fifteen year-old kid. He wore a black trench coat, blue jeans with cargo pockets, and a simple black leather belt around his waist. His shoulder-length hair was jet-black, his eyes a light cerulean. He carried a grey duffle bag over his shoulder, probably holding his personal effects.

He walked through Legion thinking to himself, now that he was in Legion what his next move should be. At that moment he was walking through the center of town, which was essentially a massive crossroads for people from every stream of life. Several streets and sidewalks emptied into this area, and in the center stood a large fountain, atop it was a massive statue of Legion's founders, the Sage Trinity.

"Five years have passed since then," he said to himself as he looked to the clouds lost in his thoughts. "Mom. Dad. Are the two of you watching me right now?"

No answer came.

"Don't worry about it, I'm doing just fine," the boy spoke to himself as he became lost in his thoughts once again.

His thoughts were interrupted as an explosion erupted from down the street. As everyone panicked, the boy moved to higher ground to see what was happening. His eyes widened in horror as a massive form lumbered down the street.

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Babel Tower**

"What are those things?!" he said as a wave of fear ran through his core.

What lumbered down the street could only be described as a group massive metal behemoths. Their massive arms were as thick as tree trunks, their hands with three fingers and thumb, its legs shook the earth with each step. It was heavily armored on all sides and stood taller then a two-story building. Their heads were square with simple-looking optical sensors. There were five in total, and all were massive in bulk. As they lumbered down the street, several dozen malfunctioning galleons followed around them.

As the galleons raised their arms and the behemoths raised their heads from their bodies, the boy's instincts took over and he dove behind a nearby vehicle for cover. Personal experience had taught him that when mehcaniloids, especially malfunctioning ones, raised their weapons, shots were about to be fired.

The moment he tucked his head to his chest, blood curling screams filled the air as the mechaniloids began to open fire upon both human and reploid alike.

All amidst was chaos. The normally docile mechaniloids were out of control, people were running in terror fearful for their lives, and humans and reploids left and right were dropping like flies at the ends of plasma blasts and laser cannons.

The boy pressed himself to the side of the car hoping not to be seen.

_Oh man. Is this it? Am I really going to die here?_ he asked himself, his heart was racing and his thoughts blurring.

Suddenly, a shrill voice rang through the air meeting the boy's ears. "Mommy! Mommy get up!"

The boy peeked around the vehicle and saw a small girl reploid clutching to the side of a bloodied human body. As his mind tried to process what was going on, the clattering of the mechaniloid's footsteps neared the two more and more.

_Crap! What do I do? There's probably five of them over there and only one of me. Plus I'm only human, and I don't even has as much as a plasma rifle to fight with. What could _I _possibly do?_

He didn't have time to come up with a response as five galleons converged on the two, forcing them against the wall of a nearby building. They armed their plasma guns, and if they weren't stopped the two would die where they lay.

Through some form of synapse that snapped through his mind, the boy suddenly bolted across the battle-torn street and poised himself between the girl and poised galleons in an attempt to stop them.

"Leave them alone!" he shouted as he stood defiantly in defense of the two behind him.

The mechaniloids were unmoving. Instead they raised their weapons, the boy braced himself for what was to come.

The last thing he knew was a brilliant flash of white before his eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Guardian Base.

Vent and Aile, the chosen ones of Models X and Z, rushed to the command room when the alarm was sounded.

"Prairie, what is it?" Vent asked as he entered the room.

"Guys, something bad is happening down in Legion," Prairie said with a worried tone. "We've just detected a massive insurgence of mechaniloids. They've begun attacking citizens."

"We'll get on it right away," Aile said as she and her brother saluted before leaving.

"Wait! Commander, we've picked something else up!" Gardenia, First Operator for the Guardians said as she pulled up an Area Scan.

"We're not completely sure what it is," Tulip, Second Operator for the Guardians said, "but it appears to be similar to Biometal."

"Biometal?!" Vent stated. "Is it another Model W fragment?"

"That doesn't seem to be so," Marguerite, Third Operator for the Guardians said. "We have records of all the Biometal's energy signatures, but this one doesn't seem to match any of them at all."

Prairie thought to herself, thinking who else from ages past could possibly be reincarnated as a Biometal. _If it isn't a Model W, then who could it be?_

"Vent! Aile! Get down there immediately!" Prairie ordered after leaving her thoughts. "Save as many people as you can and get out of there!"

Vent and Aile both saluted before leaving.

As the two Model ZX Mega Men left, Prairie was left to her own thoughts as she tried to figure out the current situation.

_What on Earth is going on? First there's a mechaniloid insurgence, and then our scanners pick up a new Biometal signature. I have a very bad feeling about this._

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Metallic Soul**

When he awoke, he found himself in a world of white. Nothingness, yet full, branched off in all directions indefinitely. He seemed to float in the vastness of this world, if it could even be classified _as_. As he hung he felt at complete peace, the kind of peace you could only find after much struggle and hardship.

"Hello? Where am I?" the boy asked as he looked around. "Is anyone here?"

_"You are with me,"_ a calm voice said.

The boy turned. What he saw was like something from a dream.

Standing, or for use of a better term, _floating_ before him was the silhouette of a human-shaped figure. He wore a long coat with a high collar, a skintight suit, and a beret-like hat. Nothing else could be seen, as his face and very being were hidden by the same ethereal light that illuminated this strange world.

_"Do not be alarmed,"_ the silhouette spoke.

"Who are you?" the boy asked. Most who were blinded to the world's true colors would panic at that very moment, but he felt a certain affiliation to the specter that stood before him.

_"I am a remnant of times long past,"_ the silhouette spoke. _"My serial number is TK-421, but my real name is Elpizo."_

"Elpizo..." the boy spoke. "I remember a name like that from history. I'm not completely sure though."

_"So stories of an age past still live to this day?"_ TK-421, Elpizo, spoke.

The boy looked off into the distance. "They do. But a lot of things have probably been left out. There are a lot of questions left unanswered."

Elpizo tilted his head in thought. _"I see. Do you ever wonder what the past has done to affect your present?"_

"Only every day," the boy said, facing Elpizo. "There are so many things about this world that just don't add up. Its almost like a puzzle missing some of its pieces."

_"I assume you're wondering why you are here,"_ Elpizo spoke.

"Kinda sorta," the boy said shrugging his shoulders. "I'm a little concerned about my body and those two people right now, but I suppose that can wait. I don't have much of a choice."

_"Then I suppose all I can do is skip straight to the chase,"_ Elpizo said. _"The balance of power in this world will soon tip, and it will soon be brought into chaos."_

The boy followed what Elpizo was saying. "Continue."

_"I have been reborn into this world in a new form,"_ Elpizo spoke. _"However, I need a compatible human, a Chosen One, to help me restore the balance."_

"So I'm this _Chosen One _then?" the boy asked.

Elpizo nodded. _"It would seem that fate has chosen you to wield the mantle of hope. The fate of this world rests on your decision, and I'm afraid if you do not choose correctly, then this world's future looks grim indeed."_

For a moment, the boy stood in thought. His eyes closed as he contemplated the very meaning of his once insignificant existence. Then he snapped out of it.

**MegaMan Zero Soundtrack - Awakening Will**

"IfI can bring this world to peace," the boy said as his eyes snapped open. "Then I will follow you to the ends of the Earth."

Elpizo chuckled. _"Those are very strong words. However I'm afraid you cannot follow me. _I _will have to follow you."_

The boy cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Elpizo pointed to the boy's heart. _"The answer lies there. Listen, and you shall see."_

The boy nodded, he closed his eyes and held his hand to his heart. He could feel its beat, but he could also feel something... more.

_"May I ask your name?"_ the silhouette spoke, the boy's body glowing from within..

"My name..." the boy spoke as the glow reached its peak, its light nearly as bright as the sun, "is Neal."

The silhouette nodded. _"Neal. A name for the hero you are destined to become."_

Neal felt a warmness fill every fiber of his being. It was as though the thoughts and prayers of those living and deceased held him aloft.

Then, the world of white ended.

* * *

Neal's eyes snapped open. He once more stood amidst the chaos that had been wrought by the attack of the crazed mechaniloids.

At that moment, he stood on the crossroads between life and death. Both for him, the child reploid, and the mother if she were still alive. It may have been the adrenaline rush, but somehow, time seemed to slow down all around him.

Then he looked into his hands and saw it. A finely crafted piece of metal, so simple yet elegant in design that it could not possibly have been made by human hands.

Which of course in that instance wasn't that far from the truth.

The finely crafted piece of metal was like that of the silhouette he had seen before. The right side was covered in what looked like long bangs bearing a striking resemblance to an opera mask, a metallic blue eye on the left side. On the top was the same beret-like hat he had seen before.

"_The answer lies there. Listen, and you shall see."_

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Determined Eyes**

"Okay then! Lets do this!" Neal took hold of the metal emblem with both hands and held it before him. "Megamerge!!!"

"_Biolink established. R.O.C.K. System, Activated!" _Elpizo intoned as his optical unit began to glow with a bright light.

That moment from the very center of Legion, a brilliant ray of light pierced the heavens above with an otherworldly light.

A moment later the flash of light subsided, and Neal stood as an entirely new person. His original clothing had been replaced with otherworldly articles, and he could feel tremendous power course through every aspect of his being.

Neal now wore an armored trench coat with gold bands on the ends of the sleeves, and a gold-trimmed collar that rose slightly above his shoulders. The bottom of the coat itself was segmented vertically into three parts to allow for freedom of movement and was gold-trimmed like his sleeves. From his neck to his toes he wore a skin-tight black jumpsuit with white lines running in patterns like circuits and he wore black gloves. He wore Elpizo's beret-like hat on his head, the left side of his face was open while the right side was hidden like Elpizo's. He wore armored boots that stopped midway up the shins, and wore a thin amount of armor near the chest. The color scheme for most of the armor was pink-red.

Aside from his new clothing, or armor as the case may be, the most noticeable thing that changed was his hair. Instead of the jet-black hair he had before, he now had long curling golden lochs extending from the back of his helmet that extended far past the shoulders.

Neal didn't know what to think. First he was talking to a phantom, then a metal emblem appears in his hands, and now he's in a tricked-out version of his own clothing.

His mind finally snapped back, and as if by instant held his right hand at his side. In a flash of light, a golden rapier handle with a guard-like hilt materialized. It reminded him of the German Swept Hilt, used by ancient Germans during the seventeenth century.

"I'm not completely sure what the heck I'm doing," Neal said as time around him seemed to snap back into place, "but I'm just going to go with my gut."

The galleons, with their limited thought processors, tried to interpret the sudden appearance of this pink-clad warrior.

"**RE-APPROPRIATING THREAT LEVEL OF TARGET."**

"Re-appropriate _this_ you metal heaps of junk!" Neal roared as he ran at the five galleons. As he neared his targets, a crimson energy beam extended from the hilt. "Oh yeah!" Neal said excitedly as he brought the blade back. "_Now_ we're talkin!"

As Neal charged at the Galleons, they began to fire at him in an attempt to hinder his process. However, right as he was about to get hit head-on, he suddenly dodged to the left and right at inhuman speeds.

"Woah!" he said as he dodged several more shots before going forward once again. "When'd I get so fast?"

He soon remembered however that he needed to protect the two people, so then placed himself in the middle of the five galleons.

The first two opened fire, but Neal leapt high over their shots and cleaved their heads from their bodies. Another approached him from the side and fired again, but Neal parried and then thrust his rapier through the galleon's core. The next moment, the remaining two galleons redirected their attention to the two civilians.

"I said leave them alone!" Neal roared as he veered off to their left flank, and then leapt at them like a tiger and cleaved them in twain.

As the two galleon bodies slumped to the ground, Neal walked over to the child reploid clutching to her mother. After letting go of her mother, the child reploid looked up, seeing the visage of Neal's megamerged form.

"Are you an angel?" she asked wide-eyed, paying especially close attention to his hair.

"An angel?" Neal took that moment to notice that his jet-black hair was now golden blonde and curly. It was also a lot longer then before. "Not really," he said as he leaned close to the injured woman that Neal figured was the reploid child's adoptive mother. He placed two fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse.

"She'll be fine," he said after a moment's analysis. "When she comes to, if she can move, tell her to clear out."

The girl reploid smiled a bit. Neal then got up and walked away.

"Where are you going mister?" the girl asked.

Neal turned to her and smiled. "I'm going to kick some mechaniloid butt."

"Thank you mister angel," the reploid girl said as Neal walked away, a smile on his face.

* * *

On the roof of a building above the now ruined square, Vent and Aile watched with widened eyes as the pink-clad hero began cutting down the mechaniloids, while at the same time protecting the people on the ground.

"Vent, are you seeing this?" Aile asked.

"I do," Vent said. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

"I sense Biometal," Model X spoke as it floated out of Aile's pocket. "But not one I've sensed before."

"Any idea who it is?" Model Z asked as it floated out of Vent's pocket.

"I don't know," Vent spoke. "Whoever it is, they seem to be trying to protect the citizens."

"Should we step in?" Aile asked.

Vent motioned for her to wait. "Hold on. Lets see where this goes. I don't want us to fall into one of Albert's little traps. Until then lets help the civilians get to safety"

Aile huffed. "I hope you know what you're thinking."

As soon as he had finished protecting the mother and child, Neal ran to the nearest batch of galleons before they could finish off a group of cornered civilians.

"Hey metal heads! Over here!" he shouted drawing the galleon's attention away from the helpless civilians.

The galleons turned from their original targets and raised their guns to the pink-clad figure. All at once they began firing rounds at him.

"Okay Elpizo," Neal quickly spoke hoping his words would be heard. "What do I do now?"

"_Didn't you know what to do before?"_

"I was acting on the spur of the moment. Just tell me how to fight while protecting them."

"_Focus on dodging their attacks. For those you can't, erase them with your rapier."_

"Dodge and erase. Got it!" Neal said as the bullets neared his position.

Neal leaned right, then jumped to the left, parried three more bullets that came at him, and erased another bullet that would've hit him in the head.

As another wave of bullets came at him, Neal jumped over them, rolled under a second volley, and sliced into the first of six galleons. As the civilians got out of the line of fire, Neal continued to dodge, erase, and attack the galleons.

* * *

While Neal continued to eliminate galleons, all the while learning to use his newfound power, Vent and Aile were on the ground to help the injured out of the area, but without the Biometal's power so they wouldn't draw attention to themselves and the citizens into the line of fire.

"Vent! How many galleons do you count?" Aile asked as she helped an elderly man up from the ground.

"I count at least three dozen," Vent said as he hung off the side of the statue. "The pink guy is cutting them down though, so the number is probably less."

"Vent! Have some respect for public property!" Aile shouted, as Vent was hanging onto the side of the statue like a kid would.

"Aile! This really isn't the time for your goody-two-shoes bit," Vent said as he dropped down to help a man who had fallen into the water.

* * *

Neal had just cut down the last of the galleons down, their metal bodies lying across the town square. Aside from a few plasma burns on his chest and legs and some oil on his coat, he was relatively unharmed.

"Wow Elpizo! This is so cool!" Neal said acting like a little kid with a new toy. "I feel amazing! Almost like I could take on the world!"

His thoughts were interrupted as a shrill scream rung through the air.

"_For now you'll have to settle with a few tricked-out Golems," _Elpizo said, _"cause we've got company!"_

Neal looked towards the center of the park and saw a brown-haired girl in the clutches of a metal behemoth. She was wearing a blue shirt, tan pants, and had her hair in a ponytail. He quickly bolted to the statues in the center of the square, took hold of "Albert's" outstretched arm, then swung himself high into the air and readied his weapon.

"Don't worry miss, I'll save you," Neal said as he dropped onto the behemoth's arm. He quickly raised his hands, then plunged the E Rapier into the behemoth's arm.

"**GUOOOOOOOOO!"** was the behemoth's cry as the attack caused his grip on the girl to loosen.

Her scream signaled Neal to jump down and catch her, but a man wearing a similar outfit with long hair caught her first.

"Phew, that was close," Neal said, knowing that if she hadn't been caught, or that if she landed the wrong way, that she could've been seriously injured. His thoughts were interrupted as another behemoth suddenly swatted him to the ground with a bone-crushing blow. Rather painfully I might add.

"Should've seen that coming," Neal moaned as he pushed himself off the ground. He had never been hit that hard before, but of course he'd never fought crazed mechaniloids alongside a warrior from ages past _either_.

When he turned over, the looming figures of the five behemoths loomed over him. Their tightly-packed formation prevented any means of escape.

"Oh boy," Neal moaned as he shook off the hit he took, the behemoths charging their laser cannons aimed right at him. "It'd take a miracle to get me out of this."

**Author's Note:  
****E Rapier is the name of the sword (rapier) that Neal uses when he's Megamerged.**

* * *

Back with Vent and Aile, they had seen just about enough.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure he's a good guy now," Vent said.

Aile nodded. "Yeah. If he were one of Albert's pawns, he would've already known who I was and wouldn't have saved me at all."

Vent nodded as he took out Model Z in his right hand while Aile took out Model X in her left.

"Model X!" Aile called as its eyes began to glow.

"Model Z!" Vent called as its eyes began to glow.

"Double," they both said as they crossed their arms holding the Biometals, "Megamerge!"

"_Biolink established. M.E.G.A. System, Online."_ the two Biometals spoke.

* * *

As the five behemoths were about to fire their laser cannons at Neal, twin pillars of light suddenly blinded them.

"_Now's your chance!" _Elpizo said as the flash reached its peak._ "Go! Go! Go!"_

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Neal said as he ran and jumped between two of the metal behemoth's legs.

As he rolled out of the way, two blonde-haired warriors in red and white clothing/armor leapt over him and slashed at the metal behemoths with green energy swords.

"Kid, are you okay?" one of the red-clad figures asked as the behemoths stumbled back.

Neal looked up and recognized her as the girl he saved. He recognized the other red-clad figure as the one who caught her.

"Uh, I'm fine," Neal said as he got up.

"Thanks for the help with the galleons," the male said. "We'll take it from here."

"Who are you?" Neal asked. Based on the rumors that had been floating around recently and five years prior, he figured these two were probably the "Mega Men" that had been sighted.

"I'm Vent, and she's Aile," the male who addressed himself as Vent said.

"We'll worry about these behemoths," the girl addressed as Aile said. "You did well with the galleons, but we have more combat experience. Find a safe place to hide and we'll take it from here."

"Don't underestimate me!" Neal said defensively. "At least let me take the one I've already injured! I should have that right!"

Vent and Aile looked to each other.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt," Vent said.

"Speak for yourself," Neal muttered under his breath. His head was still ringing from that punch he took, but he'd shake it off later.

"By the way, what's your name?" Aile asked as she transformed her sword into a buster.

"Its Neal," he said.

As Vent and Aile charged the behemoths, Neal took a nearby rock and chucked it at the back of head of the one he already damaged. The diversion did what he had intended it for, and the fifth behemoth began lumbering away from the other four.

_That's right you stupid mechaniloid, follow the birdie_, Neal thought to himself as he continued to goad the behemoth in his direction.

* * *

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Through the Lightning**

As Neal drew his rapier, the behemoth raised its head from its body and fired a laser into the ground, then swept it along the ground at Neal. He narrowly dodged it by rolling to the side before looking at his weapon, and then at the massive mechaniloid he was trying to fight.

"Alright Elpizo, I'm grateful you gave me this power and all," Neal said talking to Elpizo, "but I think I'm going to need something _more_ if I want to take that down."

"_I may have just the thing,"_ Elpizo spoke._ "The mask covering the right side of your face acts as a visual-interface. Take the option arrow on the right."_

Neal hadn't really taken the time to notice it before, but his right eye did see the world in a different light. Everything was blue-tinted, and there was a white V-shaped arrow on the left and right side. "Okay, I'll give it a shot."

As the interface changed screens, there were suddenly three pedestal-like illustrations with round spheres on them. From left to right they were pink, green, and blue.

"What are these things?" Neal asked as he dodged another laser sweep. "And why is that blue sphere shaking back and forth?"

"_That's part of your interface,"_ Elpizo spoke. _"Select the blue sphere, and watch the magic happen."_

Unsure of what to do, he raised his hand and selected the option that seemed to float in his field of vision. When he did, the blue sphere began to glow before flashing brightly. The next moment, a grey-tinted elf-looking creature sat in the corner of his vision. The elf-like creature had a red scouter over his right eye and a clip board in his left hand. Its hair was styled back and it wore a white lab coat.

"What is that thing?!" Neal asked, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the elf-like creature.

"_That is one of the Cyber Elves I brought with me from Cyber Space,"_ Elpizo spoke. _"Why don't you introduce yourself."_

"_Greetings Sir Neal,"_ the cyber elf spoke in a formal manner. _"I am the Hacker Type Cyber Elf, Recon. My specialty is analyzing enemies and displaying the data on your interface."_

"Well how do I make you work?" Neal asked.

"_Put your desired target within visual range and select him with the interface,"_ Recon spoke in an informed manner.

Having kind of gotten used to his interface, he raised his right hand and "tapped" the behemoth, highlighting him in his right field of vision.

"_Now commencing scan,"_ Recon spoke. He suddenly turned from a cyber elf into a glowing blue bar and appeared over the behemoth's head. As the blue bar moved down the behemoth's body, targeting information began to place itself over the interface.

"Targeting information?" Neal said to himself as a wire-frame of the behemoth appeared to the side of his field of vision. Underneath it was a red bar with a white outline, and next to it was the word "Golem 2.0".

"Hey Elpizo. What's that blinking red cylinder on the inside of the wire-frame?" Neal asked, making sure not to be preoccupied as he continued to draw the Golem further away.

"_Part of Recon's ability is to display enemy information,"_ Elpizo explained. _"The enemy wire-frame is blue, while any critically weak points are highlighted in red."_

"Ah. I see," Neal said as he analyzed the displayed model. "And I'm guessing the red bar underneath the wire-frame is the Hit-Point gauge?"

"_A crude way of saying it, but to put it simply, yes,"_ Elpizo spoke.

Neal took a deep breath before brandishing his rapier. "Alright then! Battle on!"

* * *

Meanwhile.

High above in Legion Headquarters, a large man with red hair and beard observed what was happening in Legion Square from a darkened room filled with monitors. At that moment, the Model F Mega Man, Atlas, entered.

"So, the Chosen of X and Z are interrupting the new Golem's trial run," Atlas spoke as he watched a monitor. "I should've known they'd interfere with the field tests."

The large man glared at one screen in particular. "Why was I not told?"

"Told _what_?" Atlas spat in a tired manner.

"That there was _another_ Mega Man!" the large man shouted.

"WHAT!? WHERE?!" Atlas spat as she pushed her way past him and looked at one of the monitors. On it was a pink-clad blond-haired warrior wielding an energy rapier.

The large man scowled at the very though of another Mega Man. More so one he didn't _know_ about. His thoughts raced as to how this would play into his plans.

_Albert that fool! Nothing in his reports indicated the existence of a _seventh_ Mega Man! It was bad enough that the ZX siblings and that girl defeated his forces before, but now there's _another_ Mega Man to contend with._

He continued to glare at this Mega Man with disdain. The fact that this one had eluded his notice for so long angered him to no end.

_If he joins up with them their numbers will be equal to those of _my_ Mega Men. I need to either convert him to my cause, or eliminate him as a factor altogether._

"Atlas," the large man spoke as he ended his thoughts.

"What?" Atlas responded dryly.

"Once the battle ends, bring your forces around the pink Mega Man," he spoke. "Bring him in, dead or alive. I don't care what you do, but bring me his Biometal!"

Atlas huffed. "Fine. But my troops better be ready for me or I'm not going anywhere."

"Don't worry about that," the large man spoke. "You'll find your personal battalion in Hangar F. Just be ready, and do not fail me again!"

Atlas grumbled to herself as she walked out of the darkened room. Meanwhile the large man was left back with his own thoughts.

"I don't know who you are," he spoke to himself, "but you will not live long enough to interfere with my plans."

* * *

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Rockin' On**

As Neal stood poised against the Golem, a message in large red lettering with under and over-lines flashed on his visor.j

**WARNING. WARNING. WARNING.**

"Elpizo was that really necessary?" Neal asked as the Golem raised its head to fire its laser cannon.

"Just trying to be traditional," Elpizo said exasperatedly.

Neal jumped out of the way then dodged right avoiding the sweep. "Traditional! Since when?!"

Elpizo chose not to answer.

"Oh well doesn't matter," Neal said as he ran at the Golem, his blade poised. As he did so the Golem launched its were-arms at him. Neal responded by back-stepping the attack before bringing his sword down onto its right thumb. After a brief struggle of force, Neal managed to slice through it and dodge before being squashed by the other hand.

For the next few minutes afterward he began hacking away at its armor, hoping to do some significant form of damage against his opponent.

"Damn! This thing's got thick armor!" Neal said as he remembered how long it took to slice through the small amount of armor on its _thumb_. He looked to the 'HP Bar' and saw that it only went down a tiny bit. At the left hand side it read 95%.

"What the hell! I only dealt five percent damage!" Neal moaned seeing how little the HP Gauge had dropped during the conflict.

"_Well what do you expect?"_ Elpizo asked. _"You're just hacking away at him randomly with no direction."_

As the Golem launched its arm at him again, he found the hole he had previously made when rescuing Aile from its grip. Without thinking he quickly thrust through again, cutting deeper into the circuitry and hydraulics causing more significant damage. As he was about to do more, the Golem raised its head from its body and fired his laser attack again and directed it right at Neal. Without having enough time to dodge the attack, he did the only thing the allotted space would allow.

He quickly raised his blade horizontally to his body and used his left hand to reinforce his defence. As the green laser met his crimson blade, energy began to build at the apex. If he held his blade there for too much longer however, then he would be overcome and quite possibly killed.

"I'm not going to die today!" Neal roared as he mustered his strength into his blade. At the moment before his defense was overcome, he swung his blade to the right while parrying to the left. The built up energy was launched back into the laser cannon, blowing it out in a gout of flame.

"There! Take that!" Neal said as he took a momentary rest to catch his breath.

"_Neal, you're starting to tire,"_ Elpizo said as Neal fell back into a defensive battle.

"Well what can I do?" Neal asked as he dodged a were-arm sweep. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not a veteran sword master."

Elpizo thought to himself before remembering something. _"Neal, I just remembered something."_

Before Neal could even ask, binary code began to rain down in his field of vision (similar to the beginning of The Matrix). As digits began to clear, a code read out horizontally across the screen.

**Hawk-Bat: Aggression Form**

"Hawk-Bat... Aggression Form?" Neal asked before the code suddenly began to pour out of his interface and through his body like a mercury blanket. The next moment, images began to flood his head at an incredible rate. "Woah... What _was_ that?" Neal asked shaking his head as the images receded and the odd-looking code left his vision.

Before an answer could come, his body began to slightly-involuntarily move on its own. His hands held his blade in a two-handed guard, holding it vertically to the right side of his body. His dominant foot was placed forward while his other foot was placed to the side adjacent to his body. His knees became slightly bent and he took a slightly-crouched position.

"Huh? I don't remember learning this stance," Neal said as his body began to ease into this new opening stance.

"_Well I thought that now would be a good time to showcase this style that I learned in my... _travels_,"_ Elpizo said with emphasis on the last word.

Before Neal could ask more, the Golem reached out for him with its left hand.

Without even thinking, he suddenly side-flipped over its arm with his blade extended leaving several slash marks before he hit the ground. Before the Golem or Neal himself could react, he suddenly dashed under its arm and slashed at its leg in a quick series of horizontal rolling slashes. Next moment he leapt off the Golem's other arm and sliced at its chest rapidly, all the while not giving the Golem enough time to react to the rain of blows.

As Neal left one last slash at its abdomen, he quickly back flipped away before sliding to a halt.

"Man. What was that just now?" Neal asked as he took another deep breath in. All of his previous attacks had left him tired, but that sudden display didn't toll on him at all.

"_Ah, I see the Synaptic Nerve Interface didn't blow your brain out through your ears,"_ Elpizo said happily. _"Normally that much data couldn't be forced into the human brain so quickly, but I suppose an intellect like yourself could quickly adapt it to your own Nervous Functions."_

"Did you just say "_blow your brain out_!"?" Neal demanded. "What the hell did you put into my brain just then?!"

"_I used the Synaptic Nerve Interface to incorporate a sword style I observed directly into your cerebral cortex,"_ Elpizo explained. _"Now that I've done so, you'll be able to call upon that sword style whenever you need it."_

Neal rubbed his head with his free hand trying to ease whatever residual pain was left over. "Yeah well next time you cram something with that much information into my brain, try giving me a little warning will ya?"

Elpizo chuckled. _"Agreed."_

"Well on the upside, at least I brought that thing's HP down a bit," Neal said with a small smile as he looked at the HP Gauge. It had lowered from 95% straight down to 57%.

Right as he said that, steam vents began opening across the Golem's body releasing internal pressure. The next moment without warning, the chest plate fell away to reveal a massive cannon of some sort.

"_Neal! There it is! The Golem's weak point!" _Elpizo exclaimed as he used the visual interface to highlight the cannon placed in the Golem's chest.

"Crap! Its charging up for an attack!" Neal screamed as the cannon began to build up energy. Before he got ten steps in, a massive blast of sound waves came barreling out and crashed right into Neal's back.

"Eyaaaaaaagh!!!" Neal screamed as the sound waves forced their way through his body. After the initial strike he was sent tumbling across the ground before coming to a stop.

"_Neal! Are you okay! Neal! Answer me!"_ Elpizo shouted as his Biomatch lay on the ground unmoving.

While Elpizo tried to get Neal to wake up, the Golem began walking towards him. As it stood above him, it charged its sonic cannon for a point-blank strike.

"Checkmate!" Neal said as he suddenly sprang up and threw his sword like a javelin into the Golem's sonic cannon. As the energy began to spiral out of control, Neal dove into what was left of the fountain just as the Golem exploded from the energy buildup.

After holding his breath for a minute, Neal poked his head out of the water and looked at the HP Gauge. Thankfully for him, it read 0%. Of course that was kind of redundant as there was nothing left of the Golem.

* * *

A few minutes had passed since the battle ended. Neal was beaten, tired, and had no idea how he lived through that fight. The town square wasn't in too great of shape either. Those who weren't able to get away in time littered the streets, cars were blown up, and there was rubble everywhere.

"Man. Looks like I made it after all," Neal said as he slumped to his knees. He looked around and noticed four other piles of remains, obviously from the other Golems.

_Well Elpizo, you certainly put me through some kind of hell_, Neal thought as he got up to see if his duffle bag survived the conflict.

"_Hey, for a human you did very well,"_ Elpizo said. _"You must be made of some pretty strong stuff, any other human would've been hamburger meat after that first punch."_

_Well, despite my appearance, I've been on my fair share of adventure. Maybe someday I'll tell you._

Neal walked over to the remains of the car he had first hidden behind. He lifted a piece of metal and found his duffle bag miraculously intact. Aside from a scorch mark or two it was perfectly fine.

Neal sighed as he shouldered the bag. His energy was spent, and the finely crafted piece of metal he used to transform separated from his body. It dropped into his open hand, which he pocketed soon after.

"Boy am I tired. Stick a fork in me because I'm done."

As he was about to walk away, a low rumbling sound met his ears. When he looked down, he saw that a few pebbles were bouncing up and down, kind of like when there was a stampede or a large vehicle was approaching.

"Crap," Neal moaned. "Why did I have to say that?"

**To be continued... **

* * *

**Just some things to get out of the way before we progress through this story any further. These are mostly details pertaining to this FanFic, and these are being placed below to answer any questions anyone may potentially ask.**

**The R.O.C.K. system which Elpizo (Model E) used, stands for "Rebirth of Crystalized Knowledge". He uses the R.O.C.K. system instead of the M.E.G.A. system because he isn't technically a "Mega Man".**

**Vent and Aile are siblings. Both are eighteen years old, and Model Z is back in their possession.**

**Ashe (age 15), is currently searching for information about her past.**

**As for the "tricked-out Golems", they're basically like the Golems from the Zero series, except**_** these **_**ones****have**_** legs**_**.**

**The**_** Interface**_** that Neal's visor uses is like the Scouter from Dragon Ball Z, just with a few alterations.**

**P.S.  
****Sorry if the description for Neal's MegaMerge was a little vague. Its basically like Elpizo's outfit, but slightly more armored and modernized.**

**And just to set the records straight, Neal is an OC owned by me. The Cyber Elf Recon is also owned by me. However, I do not own the **_**concept**_** of Cyber Elves. Inti Creates does.**

**As for the sword style that Neal used, the "Hawk-Bat: Aggression Form". It is the fourth sword style used by Jedi in the Starwars series. If you had trouble imagining Neal's movements, try remembering Grand Master Yoda's fighting style.**


	4. Escape from Legion

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Crisis Zone**

At the moment Neal turned around, he was met by the visage of five large armored vehicles. They were painted orange with red trim and had a dragon-shaped emblem on the sides. The windows had thick iron bars on them, and on the tops were medium-sized turrets. Suddenly the sides opened, and several dozen modified galleons marched out forming up like soldiers.

The modified galleons were orange in contrast to the normal galleon's purple color scheme. What also set them apart were that their heads had a dragon-like motif to them and that the plasma rifles on their right arms were replaced with massive artillery weapons.

The last bit of rumbling came from an armored four-wheeler with similar color schemes to the armored vehicles. What set it apart was who was riding it.

Riding it was a well-muscled reploid girl with a very aggressive look on her face. She was wearing an orange vest, gauntlets, and boots, all with yellow trim. Under it she wore a black skin-tight outfit, and over her legs she wore white cargo pants. Her hair was brown on the back, and orange on the front and spiky.

"By the authority granted to me by Legion, I am hereby placing you under arrest!" the girl spoke in her vehicle's built-in intercom. "You are completely surrounded, our weapons are readied, and we _will _fire if you do not surrender your Biometal!"

_Biometal? Is that what this thing is called? _Neal asked himself as he looked down to the metal emblem he held in his hands.

"_Neal, listen to me. Stall for time while I try to find a way out of this,"_ Elpizo spoke.

_Easier said then done_, Neal thought.

"On what grounds am I being taken in?" Neal asked, hoping to stall for time.

"You don't have the right to know that human filth," the reploid girl spat as she signaled for the troops to converge on their target.

_Damn, that didn't work_, Neal thought._ I'll have to try something else._

"Before you take me in, I have a question for you," Neal said while raising his arms in surrender, which in his current state felt like he was lifting bricks of lead. "What's your name?"

"My name is Atlas," the girl spat. "Troops! Take him in!"

_Crap! I'm in some deep shit!_ Neal thought. _I've got guns pointed at me on all sides, my energy reserves are next to nothing, and there aren't any witnesses to slow them down. It'd take some kind of miracle to save me now._

Right as he was about to give up hope, the sound of revving engines met his ears. Suddenly two motorcycles, one red and one blue, rushed through the line of galleons. Riding them were Vent and Aile.

"Don't worry we've got you!" Aile said as she scooped Neal up and tossed him into the side car.

The stunned Atlas regained her senses and started up her four wheeler. "Don't just stand there! AFTER THEM!"

* * *

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Target Chasers**

At that very moment, Vent and Aile with Neal in tow were rushing up an intersection into one of Legion's main highways. They were the fastest means of getting from one place to another without Transfering, and hopefully the traffic would help to slow Atlas down.

"Thanks guys. I was in a real jam back there," Neal said as he sighed a sigh of relief.

"We'll talk later!" Vent said as the three of them veered into a lane of fast-moving traffic.

Neal slumped in his seat. "Who was that? Why did she have all those troops?"

"Her name's Atlas," Vent explained as he and Aile steered between two semis. "She's the Model F Mega Man, and one of the more ruthless ones at that."

Neal slumped, still clutching his duffle bag and his biometal. "Biometal? Mega Man? I don't know what's happening anymore."

Vent tapped the communicator on his right ear. "This is Vent to base, do you copy?" he asked as he swerved between two cars and narrowly avoided hitting a third.

"_Vent! We have a lock on your position! What's your status?"_

"We have a Chosen One in our custody," Vent said. "At this moment we're being pursued by the Model F Mega Man and a battalion of modified galleons. They're using heavily armored vehicles with large mounted turrets."

"_Guys, lose them and head to the abandoned warehouse in South Legion. You'll find a Transerver there you can use to escape through an untraceable circuit."_

Vent nodded as he cut the link. "Aile, did you hear all that?"

"Yeah!" Aile said as she followed behind Vent. "Lets get to that warehouse and get out of here."

"Guys," Neal moaned as he tried not to loose his lunch, "we've got company."

Vent and Aile looked in the rearview mirrors and saw the five transports coming right at them. Taking the front position was Atlas megamerged using her Knuckle Busters to force cars out of the way.

"This is bad!" Aile moaned as Atlas suddenly launched a bomb at them. She quickly swerved to the right and pulled back as the car in front of her was turned into a ball of flame. "Oh no!"

"She's on the war path!" Vent shouted as he tried to find the best route to South Legion. "Evasive maneuvers!"

Neal clutched his biometal and tried to transform, but was unable to do so. "Its no good. I can't transform anymore."

"Don't even try," Aile said reassuringly. "You did your part, we'll do ours."

_Didn't they already take on_ four _of those metal monstrosities?_ Neal thought as he weakly nodded. "Thanks Aile."

"C'mon Aile!" Vent said as he finally got the route locked onto his on-board computer. "I have the route locked in! Lets lose these guys and get out of here!"

Aile passed Vent the Model X before anything more could happen. "Just in case!"

Vent nodded as he pulled back on the throttle.

"Hold onto your lunch kid!" Aile said as she followed behind. She pulled back on the throttle and bolted between traffic, Atlas and her troops shortly behind. Traffic didn't do them much good in slowing Atlas' forces down, since anyone in their was either blown up, shot down, or knocked out of the way by Atlas.

The wind was blowing through Vent and Aile's hair, their motorcycles were pushing their limits, and Neal was looking worse and worse with each passing minute.

"Aile! Get Neal to the Transerver! I'll hold them off here!" Vent said as he pulled out Model X and Model Z and prepared to megamerge.

"Are you insane? There's too many for you to handle!" Aile said. "They'll kill you if you stay here!"

"Well what do you want me to do?" Vent asked. "Just hand over the kid? We can't let his Biometal fall into the wrong hands."

_They're doing all of this for me_, Neal thought as he tried to figure things out. _What's going on that would make this Biometal so important they'd put their lives on the line for it?_

Right at that moment, he remembered a little "surprise" he kept stored in his bag for just these emergencies. He was mentally beating himself for not remembering he had it earlier during the maverick attack. It would've saved a lot of pain and bloodshed, but on the other hand it probably also would've gotten him arrested too. Either way he didn't remember it then, but it only mattered that he remembered now.

"Vent. Aile. Do either of you have mechanical limbs?" Neal weakly asked.

"No. Why?" Aile answered.

Neal pulled out a dull brown orange-sized sphere from the bottom of his bag. It looked military-grade, and its sides it had small glowing red panels. "I'm going to use this Droid Popper to slow them down."

"Droid Popper?" Vent asked.

"I had this delivered to me when I was younger by some people from Giro Express," Neal said as he powered it up. "It's saved me a few times since then."

"You got that from Giro Expresss!" Vent said, realizing he hadn't really _met _any clients after delivery.

"Wait a minute! Aren't Droid Poppers illegal?" Aile asked.

"Fire in the hole!" Neal said ignoring Aile as he chucked the sphere at their pursuers. As it flew through the air at Atlas, she veered off to the right, as did the other armored transports, causing the Droid Popper to bounce off the pavement.

"Crap! I missed!" Neal moaned, knowing he was never going to get _that_ back.

However, just as the Droid Popper flew past its targets, it detonated. A nearly invisible shockwave was released, short-circuiting the galleons and sending the troop transports veering off in every direction.

"Okay, it kinda worked," Neal said as the only one left pursuing them was Atlas on her four wheeler, "except now I'm short one Droid Popper."

"We'll get you another one later," Vent said. "But after we get out of here, you've got some serious explaining to do!"

Neal nodded. When he felt a warm liquid on his shoulder it was then he realized he had blood trickling down the side of his head and down his shoulder. A weird feeling suddenly came over him and he couldn't speak fluently. "Um. Aile. I think... I may have... gotten some blood... on the sidecar."

Aile looked to Neal and nearly screamed. "Vent! He's injured! We need to get him out of here _now_!"

"Relax sis," Vent said as he and Aile steered off the highway and just entered South Legion, a large industrial area covered with factories and warehouses. "Blows to the head are less serious then they look. He'll be fine for a few more minutes."

"I beg... to... dis...agree..." Neal clenched the side of his head as his vision started to go. The next moment he lost consciousness, probably due to blood loss. Amongst other things of course.

"Vent! He just passed out!" Aile said as she tried to keep Neal from falling out of the side car. "We need to get Atlas away from him and make our escape! Otherwise we'll be fitting him for a _body bag_!"

Vent nodded. "Got it! Megamerge!"

Atlas shielded her eyes as a bright flash of light. When she unshielded them, she stared face to face with the Model ZX Mega Man, Vent.

"You! I should've known you'd be helping this twerp!" Atlas spat as she charged her bomb launchers.

"Get to the Transerver! This will only take a minute!" Vent said as he activated the Auto-Pilot and charged his buster.

"You won't escape me human scum!" Atlas howled as she launched her bombs at Aile and Neal, only for them to be blasted out of the air by Vent's ZX Buster.

Atlas looked to them as rage filled her eyes. "Fine! I'll get rid of you first!"

"I don't' think so," Vent said as he began firing charge shots at Atlas, only to have her dodge them at every turn.

"Is that the best you got?" Atlas asked as she successfully dodged three charge shots, feeling confident about her own abilities.

"Not even close," Vent said as he fired another charge shot at the front of her four wheeler.

"What the-" was as far as she got before she was thrown from her vehicle and sent crashing into several cars, skipping like a stone before slamming into a firmly-planted lamp post.

"Damn you," Atlas muttered before passing out.

* * *

Right as Aile had finished dragging Neal and putting his duffle bag onto the Transerver, Vent appeared out of his mega merged form and jumped off his motorcycle.

"Commander! We're out of immediate danger!" Vent said into his communicator. "Get us out of here and have Rose ready for a new patient!"

"_Got it!"_

"_Transerver Coordinates locked! Transfer start!"_

In a flash of light, Vent, Aile, and Neal were whisked away from South Legion and back to the Guardian Base.

* * *

High above in the Guardian Base, Commander Prairie, Fleuve, Rose, and two other Guardian members with a stretcher ready watched and waited in the Transerver room for the return of the two Mega Men and supposed third.

In a flash of light the three of them returned, Aile holding an injured boy in her arms.

"Is this him?" Prairie asked as she looked to the boy in Aile's arms.

Vent nodded. "Yeah. That's him."

Aile gently set Neal down onto the stretcher and Rose gave him a quick one-over. She quickly pulled out a small flashlight, opened an eyelid, and flashed it to check for dilation. Then she placed an ear to his chest to check for breathing.

"Get him to the medical ward immediately!" Rose ordered. "If we don't treat him soon, he may come out of this with permanent damage!"

The two guardians quickly fell into line and followed Fleuve to the medical ward.

"What's his status?" Prairie asked as she followed Rose. Vent and Aile followed behind as well, worried that the guy who helped them, however indirect it was, was seriously injured.

"He has a slight case of blunt trauma," Rose explained. "We won't know what else is wrong until we do a full evaluation. Until then I ask that you stay out of our way. If we miss something, it could probably cost him."

Prairie nodded as the boy was carried into the medical ward. As soon as the door closed, the red light flashed signaling that it was in use.

"Commander, its just as we suspected," Vent said as Praired led him and Aile to her office. "Atlas went after the boy, and more importantly she had troops backing her up. Legion troops."

Prairied nodded as she looked out the window. "I see. That means Atlas must've escaped the Ouroborous. However I can't figure out why she has Legion troops backing her up."

"With your permission," Vent said, "I'd like to ready the troops in case they come after us."

"Permission granted," Prairie said. "Dismissed."

"Thank you Commander," Vent and Aile said with a salute before leaving.

Right after Vent and Aile left, Prairie sat down in her personal office and pressed the Com Link button to the bridge. "Gardenia, Tulip, Marguerite, I want this ship out of Legion airspace and out of radar range ASAP."

"_Yes Commander,"_ the three Operators spoke in unison.

"Also, get Fleuve up here and ask him when the repairs will be fully completed," Prairie said as she stretched her arm.

"_Yes maam,"_ the three of them said before cutting off the line.

Prairie sighed as she reached for her stuffed animal, only to have her arm stiffen up for a moment.

_Man, its been three months since that attack went down and I'm _still_ damaged_, Prairie thought to herself. She looked out the window and thought about her sister and what she'd do if she were still alive. _I can only hope this kid is on our side. Otherwise, the future looks grim. For all of us. _

* * *

**Just a disclaimer I need to get out of the way. The Droid Popper Neal used is roughly based on the one used in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.**

**P.S.  
Sorry if this chapter was a little short, but there wasn't that much content that could be expressed in this part of the story.**


	5. Introductions

In the sky above the world, the Guardian Base flew through the skies. Aboard it was the Chosen One Neal.

At that moment he was sleeping on a bed in the medical ward. After a few hours into the morning, he began to stir, and at that point his eyes opened.

"Ugh. Did someone get the number on the thing that hit me last night?" Neal moaned groggily as he forced himself up. He awoke to find himself in a white-walled medical room, various forms of medical equipment abound, and a large hexagonal window showing the sky on the wall to his right.

As he pulled himself up, he saw that he was now in a blue medical gown and barefoot. He examined himself and found bandages around his head, chest, legs, and abdomen. For the chest and legs he figured they were for the plasma burns he received earlier, and he remembered he was bleeding from the back or side of his head before he passed out. He tried to get up, but a slight twinge of pain drew his attention to an IV linked to his right arm.

"Man, what the hell hit me?" he asked himself as he got up, bringing the IV with him.

He walked around to the front of the bed and found the Diagnosis Report on a clip board. He pulled it up to see just what was wrong with him.

"Lets see heref he said as he flipped through the pages. "Slight case of Blunt Trauma... Four Plasma Burns... One fractured rib: Now treated... Slight hemorrhaging of the cranium."

After looking at the medical report, he saw his duffel bag in the corner. His possessions were untempered with, and his Biometal, Elpizo, was there as well.

He looked back to the IV and saw that it was now empty. He decided for the best movement that he remove the tube, but leave the catheter in his arm in case more fluids needed to be infused or blood samples be taken.

After slowly getting dressed, as to not reopen any injuries, he reached into his bag and picked up his biometal. As he did so, the blue optical unit on the left lit up and a yawning sound issued from the Biometal. "Hey. Mornin kid. I see you're still alive."

Neal moved around a bit more to make sure he didn't pull anything before opening the door. He took a right, then turned the corner, but only came to a dead end with a window at it.

"Lets see where I am," he mumbled to himself as he looked out the window. He looked down, but instead of seeing the ground he saw clouds. The ground was way, way, _way_ down.

"Yah! Where the hell am I?" he screamed as he fell backwards, the shock of realizing he was so far up being painfully obvious.

"Neal, you're up," a kind voice said from behind.

Neal turned and saw Aile standing at the end of the hallway. He tried to walk over to her, but dumbly tripped on his own feet and fell on his face. "Ow."

"I'm surprised to see you up already," Aile said as she helped him to his feet. "We thought for sure you'd be out for another day or two."

Neal rubbed his head. "How long have I been out?"

"You've been unconscious for three days," Aile admitted.

"Three days!" Neal blurted out.

"Look, just stay calm and I promise I'll explain all of this," Aile said trying to calm him down.

The next moment Neal's stomach growled. "Um. Aile. Does this place have a cafeteria?"

Aile nodded. "Sure. Just follow me. We're just in time for lunch."

"I missed breakfast?!" Neal blurted, but was quickly silenced by his growling stomach.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, Aile and Neal finally arrived at the cafeteria. A few people were already there, Vent sitting at the back wall polishing Model Z. He had a tray placed in front of him, but he had yet to touch it.

As Aile and Neal approached, Vent looked up and took notice. "Well mornin' kid. Did you sleep well?"

Neal's stomach growled before he could speak. "Where's the food? I'd like to eat something that wasn't administered through a _tube_."

"Here, take mine," Vent said rather hastily as he pushed his tray to Neal. Aile noticed the tray's contents, but before she could say anything Neal was already scarfing it down.

"Neal! That tray is loaded with liver, Brussels sprouts, and tofu!" Aile cried as Neal piled it into his mouth. The next moment he gulped down a tall glass of turnip juice that Vent passed him.

"Don't *chomp* care *munch*," Neal said between bites. "Haven't *crunch* eaten in *gulp* two days."

While Vent chuckled at the display, Aile gave him a stern look.

"Vent! How could you take advantage of him like that?" she said scolding him.

Vent stopped chuckling, but instead scratched the back of his head. "What? I don't see the problem?"

"Rose told you you need to eat better!" Aile scolded. "You can't just shirk your dietary responsibilities like this!"

Vent stuck his tongue out. "Oh come on. You'd act the same way if _you _had to eat that stuff! You don't like any of it either."

Aile sighed as she rubbed his forehead. "You act like a little kid sometimes, you know that."

"Ah, that feels much better," Neal said after having the first _real _meal in two, possibly three days. The next moment his stomach started gurgling, then he suddenly belched in Vent's general direction.

Vent took a whiff of the air before covering his mouth and nose with his hands. "Jesus Christ! What on earth did you just eat?!"

Neal rubbed his stomach. "Liver, Brussels sprouts, tofu, and carrot juice."

Vent stuck out his tongue in disgust that the kid would actually _eat _that stuff, but soon regretted uncovering his mouth and nose. "Blagh! That's nasty!"

"That's what you get," Aile said as Vent acted like he was about to blow chunks. "Maybe next time you'll eat the food yourself."

While this was going on, the other Guardians watched with a confused look on their face.

* * *

After their little "episode" in the cafeteria, Neal passed his Biometal to Fleuve so he could study it while he went for his de-briefing.

The metal doors whooshed open, revealing the bridge of the Guardian Base.

"Oh, morning guys," Prairie said as she turned her seat around. She noticed something in the air after taking a quick whiff. "What on earth is that smell?"

"That would be Vent's lunch," Aile said pointing to Neal. Prairie wondered why Aile was pointing to _Neal _and not_ Vent_, but that wasn't really important right now.

"Excuse my prudence..." Neal said waiting for a response.

"Prairie. My name's Prairie," she said introducing herself.

"Prairie. Okay then, can I ask where I am?" Neal asked.

Prairie ignored the odd smell in the air as she leaned back in her seat. "Well Neal, you are currently aboard the Guardian Base. As you've probably already guessed, it's a massive airship that serves as our base of operations."

"Okay. So I'm in an airship," Neal said trying to process all this.

"Anyway, you were brought here because you possess a very powerful relic, Biometal," Prairie explained.

"I though I was brought here because of the raving lunatic in orange," Neal said. Vent chuckled while Aile tried to hide her laughter.

Prairie stifled the titter that got out of her as well, but regained seriousness a moment later. "Raving lunatic aside, you recently came into possession of Biometal, a very powerful artifact that, if left in the wrong hands, could put the world in great danger."

"Okay, so I'm guessing _that's _what its called," Neal said remembering how much people were calling it that. "I kinda know who the Guardians are, so you don't really need to explain _that_ part to me."

Prairie nodded. "Anyway, I need to know how you came in contact with the Biometal."

Neal took a seat nearby and sat down. "Well, it started during that Maverick raid a few days ago. I was hiding behind a car when some galleons were about to shoot a reploid girl and her mother down. I stepped in for some reason thinking I could save them, next moment I was talking to a phantom from ages past. Then, after a brilliant flash of light, I'm in a pink-armored trench coat and cutting mechaniloids to the ground with a crimson energy sword. After that the rest if a blur."

_Pink armor? Who wears pink armor that I know of?_ Prairie thought to herself. "Well a lot was going on, so its understandable that you don't remember _every _detail."

Neal nodded. "Okay I've explained how I got the Biometal. Now I have a question for you. What's going on? Why did that lunatic demand I hand over my biometal?"

Prairie took a seat in her chair before dimming the lights and activating the holographic projector in the center of the room. "As you may already know, Atlas was after you because you possess a rare and powerful relic, Biometal."

An image of Model X and Model Z appeared on the projector. "Biometal is essentially the living consciousness of warriors from ages past. With it, a Chosen One, or Biomatch, is able to connect with it and draw great amounts of power from it. Doing so transforms them into a new life form, a Mega Man."

The image then changed to a profile of Atlas, the girl who hunted them down two (or possibly three) days ago. Next to her profile was an orange, white, and red Biometal.

"Atlas, the Flame Mega Man is the holder of the Model F Biometal, and a very aggressive contender in the Game of Destiny," Vent explained.

"Game of Destiny?" Neal asked.

Vent nodded. "The Game of Destiny is the means by which Mega Men, the holders of Biometal, are forced to fight each other. And if she's alive, that means the others are alive as well."

"So there are other Mega Men then?" Neal asked.

Vent nodded. "Aile and I are the Chosen Ones for Model X, while Model Z is a memento from a good friend of ours."

The image of the screen changed to that if three other profiles. A reploid boy with blue hair, another with light green, and a masked reploid with purple hair.

"Thetis, Aeolus, and Siarnaq," Aile explained. "In order, they hold Model L, H, and P. The Ice Mega Man, the Wind Mega Man, and the Shadow Mega Man."

_Siarnaq... Why does he look so familiar? _Neal asked himself.

The picture changed again to a Hunter Licence, on the picture was a silver-haired girl. Next to it was the scan of a white and blue W-shaped Biometal.

"Ashe is the holder of the Model A Biometal, and descendant of Albert of the Sage Trinity," Aile explained.

"Wait, she's related to Albert of the Sage Trinity?" Neal asked.

Prairie nodded. "Yes. She was a very big help against the recent Maverick outbreaks."

"Maverick outbreaks..." Neal spoke. He sat in his seat deep in thought for a moment, analyzing the information he had been given before coming to a conclusion. "Model W."

Everyone gave him an odd look, thinking he had just mumbled something incoherent out.

"Model W. What do you know about it?" Neal asked Prairie in a stern tone.

Prairie suddenly relit the room before heading for the door.

"Vent, Aile, you're dismissed," Prairie said as she left the bridge. "Neal, come with me."

Neal nodded as he got up.

* * *

A minute later, Neal sat across from Prairie in her private office. Prairie had dimmed the lights and activated the sound-proofing so that their discussion would be kept private.

"Neal. Where did you hear about the Model W?" Prairie asked, her eyes not once leaving Neal's.

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Fragments**

Neal leaned back in his chair and sighed as he collected his thoughts.

"I heard some rumors," Neal said, "a little more than five years ago, about how Slither Inc. was supposedly excavating in the Outlands for something. Something big."

Prairie looked at a framed picture on the wall. On it was a long-haired individual wearing red sporting a small set of glasses. "How do you know that? Did you work for Slither Inc.?"

Neal shook his head. "No, I didn't. But my parents did."

"Your parents?" Prairie asked. "They worked for Serpent?"

Neal nodded. "My parents were Chief of Research and Development for Slither Inc. They worked near his main office on some of his main projects, so naturally they were in frequent contact with him."

"What happened to them?" Prairie asked. Something told her that Neal's story would be saddening, but in order for her to help him, he needed to tell her what he knew.

"My parents..." Neal said as sadness streaked his eyes. "They were onto something. Something big. They told me... to stay away from Serpent. Not to let on that I knew anything."

A tear fell from his eye, but he quickly wiped it with his sleeve hoping it wouldn't be seen. However Prairie _did _see it, and she knew she had hit a nerve.

"Then one day... They didn't come home from work..." Neal said as he leaned forward. Tears began streaking down his face, and no matter what he couldn't get them to stop. Prairie felt a pang of regret in asking him about his past.

"A few days later, Serpent came to my house and asked to speak with me. Some part of me told me something was up, but I didn't want to seem suspicious in front of him, so I invited him in. After a drink, Serpent told me that my parents had died in a lab accident at Slither HQ. Said an energy reactor or something exploded and killed them instantly."

_Poor guy_, Prairie thought to herself.

"Right then I broke down into tears. Serpent told me that he was dearly sorry, and that he intended to compensate me for my loss. He offered to pay for the completion of my education, to pay off the mortgage on my parent's house, and a the offer of a high-paying job at Slither Inc. when I was old enough."

Neal clenched his knees and clamped his eyes shut. "I looked up at him then. Right at that moment... At that moment I knew... I...I..."

Prairie waited for a moment for Neal to finish his sentence.

"I KNEW THAT LYING BASTARD HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT!!!" Neal shouted as he suddenly stood up and pounded his hands on the desk, scaring Prairie and nearly causing her to pull out her concealed blaster and shoot him.

For the next minute, Neal stood with his fists on the desk, Prairie's hand on her concealed blaster. After a tense minute more Neal took his seat.

"Prairie... I'm sorry about that..." Neal apologized as he sat back down in his seat. "Please forgive me for my outburst. I just... haven't been able to _completely_ move past that."

"Its okay," Prairie said. She eased her hand from her blaster and sat back in her seat. "That kind of behavior is understandable."

"Anyway..." Neal said as he finally regained his composure. "I knew right from that very moment he had something to do with it. I figured that if I let on about knowing he'd probably get rid of me too, make it look like an accident. So I did the only thing I could to get him out of the house without drawing suspicion. I told him thank you, and that it would be a big help."

Prairie knew a bit about Serpent before, but now she knew him for the lying bastard he really was.

"After I said that," Neal continued, "Serpent smiled and told me he'd take care of the arrangements. After that he left."

Prairie nodded. "Well... What happened next?"

Neal sniffed as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "While I led Serpent to believe that I didn't know anything, for the next few weeks I began moving about Inner Peace collecting any information I could about the disappearances and any way Serpent was involved. I knew that if I wanted to bring him down, I needed solid, concrete evidence. Something big enough to bring a business leader like him down."

Neal stopped for a moment before reaching for a tissue box on Prairie's desk. "Can I?"

Prairie nodded. Neal then took a tissue and blew his nose.

"Anyway, a month had passed since my parents died," Neal said. "I'd been collecting information, but only in little bits and pieces. I'd begun to give up hope, but then I found a breakthrough in my investigation. Something that could possibly nail Serpent, but only if he were guilty of my suspicions and the clues led me in the right direction."

Prairie was becoming more intrigued by Neal's tale by the second. "A breakthrough? Like what?"

"Well. I did a little... _digging_, and found out that a delivery service named Giro Express was scheduled to deliver a package from an Archeological Recon Unit to an anonymous client at a rendezvous point in the Outlands in a few days. The main bulk of the disappearances had been happening there, so I figured this would be the best time to get some conclusive evidence in case they disappeared on the job."

_He's talking about when I asked Giro to deliver the Biometal!_ Prairie thought to herself.

"I knew that somehow I had to get fresh pictures of them before they possibly disappeared, you know, to have some faces to go with the names. But, I had to do it in a way that I drew the least amount of suspicion to myself. So I did the one thing I could to get a delivery service to come to me," Neal explained. "I placed an order."

"An order? What did you order?" Prairie asked.

"Well. I knew I had to get to them before they left on their delivery to the Outlands," Neal explained, "so I ordered a certain... _package_, and put it on Express Delivery. Since I only had a day at the most until Giro Express delivered my package, I knew I had to work fast if I wanted to get the evidence I needed."

"What did you do?" Prairie asked. It was as though she were watching a Shakesperian drama unfold before her, and the tale was becoming more captivating every minute.

"I did the best with what I had," Neal explained. "I rigged a few timed cameras in my yard and a wide-lense camcorder in my parent's bedroom. Then that morning came, one adult in red and two pre-teens in blue came to my front step. I received the package, and at the same time I managed to get enough pictures to serve as evidence."

_So he is talking about Vent and Aile_, Prairie thought. "Why didn't you just copy their profiles from the internet?"

"It was possible that Serpent was still monitoring me, just in case I was tailing him, which he didn't know I was. If I suddenly pulled the profile of a delivery service, it may have set off a red flag, and then I wouldn't be able to collect any more evidence as freely without giving myself away."

Prairied nodded. _Knowing Serpent, that might have been the case._

"A while after that," Neal continued, "Giro Express dropped from the face of the Earth. I... _opened_ their mainframe before it was disconnected from the network, and found the coordinates for the rendezvous point in a forest just outside Inner Peace. After I mapped the route, I left by the cover of night and investigated. I combed the area for a few hours before I found something."

"What did you find?" Prairie asked.

"I found tracks. Big ones," Neal said. "There were signs of a conflict in the area too, they appeared to be a few days old. However, tracks weren't concrete evidence, so all I could do was follow where the clues led."

_He's talking about the Giga Aspis that attacked us that day_, Prairie thought. She had to keep a straight face, otherwise Neal would know something was up.

"Right as I got home from checking tracks, I heard about a large-scale Maverick attack that had occurred on the ruined highway south of Inner Peace," Neal continued, completely oblivious to the thoughts going on in Prairie's mind. "True to the news reports, there was a massive Maverick attack there too. I found obvious signs of a conflict, and at the middle I found a downed Rayfly."

_He was there too?_ Prairie asked herself.

"It didn't take a genius to see that something powerful knocked it out of the air. The left side of its hull was nailed by a very powerful melee weapon, possibly a sword or something along those lines. For the next few weeks I continued to investigate other areas in secret."

"What did you investigate?" Prairie asked. _Just how far was this kid willing to go for his parents?_

"Well I don't completely remember now, its been so long since then," Neal said. "I investigated eight areas in total, two I had to go back to at a later date and bring diving equipment, and _one_ I had to bring a fire retardant suit so I wouldn't get cooked alive."

_Eight areas. That must be where the eight pseudoroids were active_, Prairie thought to herself. "What did you find?"

"Well," Neal said. "I found out that all eight sites had something that linked them all to each other. There were signs of a large-scale conflict, and some kind of residual energy my equipment couldn't accurately identify. I must've just missed whoever was fighting the Mavericks by a day, give or take a few hours. What I did see was that there were Slither Inc. logos all over the place as well, so that could at least prove Serpent's _involvement_."

"Did anything in _particular_ stand out?" Prairie asked._ If he got through the door sis built, I won't know _what_ to think._

Neal scratched the side of his cheek. "Well, there was one place where my investigation hit a dead end. There was this cave in the mountains, and at the end of it was a massive door with six highly advanced electronic locks. The thing was made of some super-strong material, and I didn't have the kind of equipment to get through it either."

"What did you do afterwards?" Prairie asked.

"I turned around and went home," Neal said. "Even without seeing what was behind that door, I _still_ had enough evidence to conclusively prove that Serpent was responsible, or at the very least _related_, for all the disappearances that had been occurring recently and for the ten years prior. All that was left to do was for me to collect my findings, take care of a loose end, and confront Serpent."

"What do you mean by loose end?" Prairie asked.

Neal leaned back in his chair. "Well, it was an economic thing, and I don't want to bore you with details so I'll just give you the gist. Using the skills I had acquired while investigating Serpent, I broke through the Slither Inc. Stock Mainframe and set all of the shareholder's stocks to be sold simultaneously. Since they were sold simultaneously, their value didn't have a chance to drop too much. A bit of money was lost in the transfer, but everyone still made some profit from their stocks."

"Why'd you get everyone's stocks sold?" Prairie asked.

"Well, I knew that one way or another, Slither Inc. was going to hit the ground," Neal explained. "I didn't want everyone to be holding worthless stocks, so I did all I could. Afterwards I found out what I did worked, so I'm glad things turned out as they did."

Prairie digested all the information she had been given. _So while we were fighting the Mavericks, he was out in the field trying to expose Serpent's plot to the public. He was right behind us too. How come no one noticed? Though on the off-note, I _am_ grateful that someone prevented an economic depression within Inner Peace._

"However I knew if I confronted Serpent on my own and revealed that I knew about his plot, he'd just get rid of me also. That's when I had a... _contact_, bring in some... _professional_ help," Neal said, picking his words very carefully.

"Who'd you call?" Prairie asked. She had noticed he'd been choosing his words very carefully a lot lately, possibly because he's had some questionable dealing in the past.

"Not much was known about them," Neal said. "All I could get was a name. The Striking Shadow Squadron."

_Striking Shadow Squadron? Is it coincidence or..._ Prairie thought thought to herself.

"They were a special ops unit that dealt in espionage and assassination," Neal continued. "I knew that if I were to confront Serpent, it had to be as a man and not as a little kid. I called them in, hired them to a contract, and at that moment I was ready to storm Slither Inc.'s main office in the center of Inner Peace."

"Why didn't you just call the police?" Prairie asked.

Neal scratched his cheek. "I don't think the police would believe the words of a ten year-old. Plus, if they worked for Serpent too, then I'd be dead right there."

"I see," Prairie said. _His parents disappear by Slither's hand, he investigates all the areas where Vent and Aile fough pseudoroids at, and now he's stormed the Slither Inc. Main Office building, _Prairie thought. _I'm surprised investigating so many mechaniloid-infected areas didn't deter him._

Neal stopped there and looked Prairie dead in the eye. "Prairie. Before I continue, there's something I have to say."

"Hm?" Prairie asked.

"Everything I've said here does not leave this room," Neal explained, his eyes holding full seriousness as he folded his fingers together in front of him. "I don't know just what Serpent was up to with that Model W thing. But all I know is that if this information were to be leaked to the public in the wrong manner, then it would cause mass panic and chaos across the whole country."

_Man, he's really binding my hands here, _Prairie thought._ But I suppose I owe it to him, and to his parents, to keep his trials secret until he's ready to tell everyone himself. _

"I promise," Prairie said. "I won't breath a word of what you've said once we leave this room."

"Thank you," Neal said. "I appreciate it very much."

"Anyway, an hour before I planned to storm Slither Inc., three individuals appeared in my home, one adult, one teen, and one child the same age as I was. All were wearing black and purple outfits with red scarves around their necks and faces, giving them the resemblance to modern-day ninjas. Anyway, once they were there, I gave them the gist of the mission. They were to follow behind me while I made my way to the top floor of Slither Inc., all the while not to be seen by anyone or anything, and that in the event that Serpent tries to eliminate me, they get him first, no questions asked. The payment was on a half-now half-later basis, and they'd be paid extra for stopping anyone who had caught on to my plan and attempted to stop me."

"What happened when you got there?" Prairie asked.

"When I got to the entrance to the Slither Inc. main building, I noticed something was off the moment I set foot there. It was quiet... _Too_quiet. I entered the lobby and found only the remains of galleons and various mechaniloids littered across the floor. I continued on for several more minutes before realized something very crucial; The mechaniloids were felled recently, as in "five-_minutes_-ago" recently."

Prairie thought about what the details of his story meant. _He must've been right on Vent and Aile's tail right before they went to confront Serpent. I thought I had troops guarding the entrance too. He must've slipped through before we could get in position._

"I soon came upon the Main Elevator shaft, which was used to move large equipment that was too delicate to be air-lifted. The mechanism for calling the elevator back down was unresponsive, and I knew I didn't have the time to wait for it to come back down. After signaling the Shadow Squadron to come out of hiding, I offered them extra money to take me to the top in under five minutes. They did, and it was money well spent for what I figured out when I reached the top."

Prairie was literally on the edge of her seat. "Spit it out! What did you see?"

Neal was momentarily taken back by her sudden urgentness, but figured it was the effect that his story was having. "All right, I'll continue."

"Right as I reached the top floor, I found even more mechaniloid remains," Neal said, nearing the end of his tail. "I _knew_ these ones were fresh because they were still warm. Then I came to the last hallway before the final door, wall to wall were hundreds of glass cylinders with glowing balls of light in them."

_Cyber Elves_, Prairie thought, remembering the mission report she had received from both Vent and Aile after they came back on radar.

"It was right then that we came upon the final door. And it was the most heavily reinforced of all of them. From the skills I had gained during the few months I had been investigating Serpent's activities, I managed to hack the lock just enough so that the center dial came loose. It wasn't much, but it was enough that I could see into the room. The moment I looked in, I _knew_ that Serpent was responsible for it all."

"What did you see in that room?" Prairie asked.

"From what I could see there were hundreds, possibly thousands of the same glass cylinders that had the glowing spheres of light in them, and hanging from the ceiling was a massive chunk of glowing white metal with a pulsating red core. Right as I was about to force the door open further, I caught sight of Serpent facing off against two individuals in red armor with long golden hair."

_So he was right at the final battle at Slither Inc._ Prairie thought to herself

"Just then, Serpent took out a glowing piece of triangular metal, then there was a brilliant flash of light. When it cleared, he was covered head to toe in white and black armor with glowing orange cones on the head, shoulders, and feet. The fight that ensued was intense, I'd never seen so much power used in one place before. The two warriors were able to defeat Serpent, but suddenly the tide changed. The two warriors fighting Serpent were suddenly forced out of their transformed states as some kind of energy was ripped out of them and absorbed into the massive white metal that hung from the ceiling."

_He must be talking about when their megamerge was canceled by Model W._

"Then something truly horrific happened. Glowing tendrils suddenly emerged from the core of the giant metal and absorbed Serpent into itself. The next moment he had transformed into a giant colossus that would make those Golems look like flies next to an ox."

_So he witnessed Serpent's transformation as well. I'm surprised he wasn't traumatized. Then again he _may've_ been and he's just hiding it very well._

"Right then I knew that Serpent had become far to powerful for I, or anyone else to stop, and at that very moment I had fallen into the depths of despair," Neal said. "But then a miracle happened, and to this very day I still don't believe it myself."

"What happened?" Prairie asked.

"The two warriors suddenly resumed their transformed state and began to fight Serpent head-on. I was utterly amazed, Serpent just kept getting bigger and bigger, his attacks more powerful and elaborate, but each time Serpent got bigger, the two warriors just kept fighting harder. Then with their most powerful attacks they finished him off."

Neal took a moment to remember that day, and to take a breath from so much talking.

"Right at moment the room began to fall apart, as did the whole tower. It was then I heard Serpent's final words, and to this very day that moment still gives me nightmares."

"What were Serpent's final words?" Prairie asked.

Neal deepened his voice as he recalled those words that would be etched into his memory forever.

**"The destiny of destruction . . . Still awaits . . . So long as you have hearts, hate will lurk in the shadows . . . You who possess the wellspring of emotion known as the heart . . . You are the true Mavericks!"**

Those words took an immediate effect on Prairie. As much as she hated to admit it, there was some truth to Serpent's words.

"The final words of that madman will remain in my memory for the rest of my life," Neal said, utterly exhausted from recalling the darkness that lay in his past. "I never _did_ find out who defeated Serpent, but if I ever meet them, I'd like to thank them for putting my parent's souls to rest. If anything it's the least I could do."

"Neal... This may not be the most appropriate time to ask..." Prairie said. "But can you tell me how it was that you _escaped_ the collapsing building in time."

Neal sighed, but figured a few more minutes of his tale would be good for him. He'd never told anyone else before, so this was actually a great load off his shoulders.

"Well, it essentially went like this. As the building began to collapse, I told the three I hired that the terms of my contract had expired, and that they should just get themselves to safety. The next moment, the shortest ninja threw me over his shoulder and said, "this one's on the house". The large one set a charge on the wall, we hid behind some debris, and then next thing I know, we're flying on gliders out of the Slither Inc. building right as the thing falls apart."

Prairie leaned back in her seat. "Wow. That must've been some adventure."

Neal nodded. "It certainly was. To this day I still wonder just what the hell I was thinking when I decided to hunt down Serpent's plot. Maybe it was something I ate, or quite possibly a bit of insanity. Heck it may've been a bit of both, but I don't regret my actions."

"What did you do with the information you gathered?" Prairie asked.

"Well the information I gathered wouldn't do me much good against Serpent anymore," Neal said exasperated. "I mean after all, he wasn't around to answer for his crimes anymore. It was a shame too since I had collected enough information to have him sent to prison for a _long_ time. Although I suppose he did get what was coming to him in the end."

"What did you do after that?" Prairie asked.

Neal leaned back in his seat. "Well, for the next few years I took the Advanced Courses in all my classes and finished up my education. Hiring those three cost me a fortune, so I couldn't _retire_ with the inheritance and insurance my parents left behind for me."

Prairie nodded.

"As I was saying, I completed my education, sold the family home, and decided to move to Legion," Neal said. "Figured I could get an internship at a software company or something."

"What did you do after that?" Prairie asked.

Neal chuckled. "Well. Next thing I know there's a mechaniloid insurgence in Legion, I find a magical talking paperweight, I fight off a horde of said mechaniloids, I get a bulls-eye slapped on my back by Legion for no reason that I know of, and then I sat down in an office with the lights dimmed and told my life's story to a pretty girl in a pink commander's uniform."

Prairie's cheeks reddened a bit at hearing that last part. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Um... Sure... I mean... you're not ugly or anything," Neal said, realizing what he'd just said. _What did I just say?!_

Prairie shook herself out of her daze too. When she stopped to think about it, she never really had time to be a normal girl. Not that being a two hundred year-old reploid and having seen history in the making was normal or anything. Still, it was nice to be called pretty, especially by a nice boy like Neal.

"Um. Thanks for telling me everything," she said. "I'm sorry if this brought up bad memories for you."

Neal shook his head. "Nah, it wasn't really anfy problem at all. In fact, it actually felt pretty good to get this off my chest. You're the first person I've told, not that anyone would really believe me or anything."

Prairie sighed. "Well. I do believe you."

"Really?" Neal asked dumbfounded. "Why?"

Prairie looked to an old framed picture she kept on her desk. On it was of a woman with long blonde hair wearing white and pink, next to her was a small blonde-haired reploid girl bolding a stuffed animal. "I lost my sister to Serpent as well."

Neal's eyes widened. "Really?"

Prairie nodded. "Yes, I did."

"Prairie..." Neal said. "You don't have to tell me your life's story just because I told you mine. I mean not if you don't want to. I wouldn't want to bring up any bad memories or anything."

Prairie shook her head. "Neal, after hearing your story, I think you have the right to know just how far back Serpent's plot went."

"Serpent..." Neal repeated to himself. The name still upset him, even though it had been five years since that time.

Prairie made herself comfortable and leaned back in her seat. "It was a long time ago. I mean a _really _long time ago. It was after the Second Maverick War had come to an end. My sis and a team of researchers began doing research in the Outlands- a generally uninhabitable area outside of Neo Arcadia."

_Neo Arcadia... I've only heard about it in history books_, Neal thought to himself.

"They came across the remains of an evil man's soul that had fused with a giant space station, Ragnarok. Once they had come into contact with it, they began having unexplained migraines and were hearing voices in their heads. The core, which my sister classified as Model W, began to turn the members of her research team into Mavericks."

"Model W!" Neal said suddenly. "You can't mean the same one that Serpent used. Could you?"

Prairie sighed. "The very same. There was one reploid in particular that stood apart from the others that had become Mavericks after coming into contact with the core. His name, was Serpent."

Neal's eyes suddenly filled with anger. "Serpent! That vile, conniving, manipulative piece of-"

He suddenly remembered there was a girl with him in the room and quickly shut his mouth. "I'm sorry Commander, please disregard what I was about to say."

"Anyway, Serpent had killed the research team and had run off with the Model W fragment in tow," Prairie said. "I'm not completely sure, but I believe he may have been the one responsible for my sister's disappearance. There isn't any evidence to disprove it, so for the time being I can only assume it was his fault."

"Your sister?" Neal asked. "What was her name?"

"Her name... was Ciel," Prairie answered after a brief pause.

"Ciel... Wait! You mean _the_ Ciel? The one who made the Ciel System?" Neal asked.

"She was the very same," Prairie said. "It was during the Twenty Fifth Century that man and machine came to a truce, as to not repeat the events of the Maverick Wars or the Elf wars. Reploids agreed to be set with artificial life spans, while humans were steadily integrated with mechanical parts. In essence, humans were given the strength of reploids, while reploids were given human mortality. The ones who did not agree to the truce however were dubbed as Mavericks."

Neal rubbed his chin. "This is a lot to take in, but how does Serpent fit into all this?"

"It was during the Twenty _Sixth_ Century," Prairie said. "As the whole country was suffering from another energy crisis, Serpent emerged as a hero by solving it using technology he "_unearthed_" in the Outlands. It was afterwards that Serpent founded Slither Inc."

"Serpent! That-" Neal said before stopping to rephrase his words. "That lying cur. He's got a lot of nerve."

"I completely agree with you," Prairie said. "Now Neal, this is the most prevalent part of my story, so you need to listen very carefully."

Neal nodded. "You listened to my story. I intend to listen to yours. Please continue"

"For ten years prior five years ago," Prairie said remembering everything from that time, "the Maverick Raids had caused many people to disappear. While the Mavericks would attack, Serpent's security force would always step in and stop them. But not until _after_ people had disappeared."

"I knew my parents were onto something big," Neal whispered to himself. "I'm sorry for interrupting Prairie. Please continue."

"Anyway, for the next ten years, people continued to disappear," Prairie explained. "The fact was that they were being abducted, transformed into Cyber Elves, and turned into energy for Model W."

Neal slumped in his chair as a tear streaked down his face. "So _that's_ what he did to them. They found out, and he turned them into food for that piece of junk."

Prairie stood next to Neal and looked him in the eye. "Neal. I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do to ease your pain, please let me know."

Neal wiped the tear from his face before meeting Prairie's gaze. "Tell me who those two were that I saw take down Serpent."

Prairie nodded, while at the same time a thought crossed her mind._ Well at least I can write him off as a pervert._

"The ones who brought down Serpent..." Prairie said as she resumed her seat, "were two of the delivery people from that group you investigated. Giro Express."

Neal's eyes widened. "Giro Express! Then that would mean that-"

Prairie nodded. "That's right. Vent and Aile are the ones who fought Serpent and stopped his plan."

Neal's thoughts snapped back in place. "All this time and I never knew. But wait, if they were alive this whole time, why did Giro Express drop off the face of the planet?"

A streak of sadness crossed Prairie's face. "Giro, the founder of Giro Express... He lost his life when Serpent manipulated him with the Model W fragment and forced him to fight Vent and Aile. The injuries all of them sustained were great, but Giro was the worst off. As a group of galleons converged on the three of them, Giro separated himself from the Model Z and passed it onto Vent and Aile. However doing so led to his death."

Neal nodded. "So that would explain why Vent and Aile had_ two_Biometal."

Prairie nodded. "Yes. As a matter of fact, the investigation you carried out under Serpent's nose was concurrent with what they were doing to stop Serpent from resurrecting Model W."

Neal slumped back in his seat. "Woah. I had no idea just what I was getting into. I mean I had _ideas_, but I never knew my parents were onto something that went so far back."

Prairie nodded. "I hope I filled in any gaps you had."

Neal took a deep breath. "It certainly did. Wait a minute-" The gears began to mesh, and a long-bubbling thought suddenly hit him like... well like a lot of things. "If your accounts are true, that means..."

Prairie nodded and smiled. "What you were about to figure out was that I am a reploid from two hundred years ago. I know so much about this world's history because I was _there _when it all happened. In fact you could say I'm a living dictionary on the subject."

Neal fell back into his seat. "So now I've been pulled into this Game of Destiny thing?"

"It would appear so," Prairie said as she turned the lights back up. "Before I forget, I was wondering if you could let me see your Biometal. I recognize the clothing you wore while megamerged from somewhere, but for the life of me I just can't seem to remember _who_ wore them."

Neal got up and walked over to the door. "Sure. I left him with Fleuve in the lab just outside the bridge."

"Well lets go see him then," Prairie said. "We've been talking for a while, so he's bound to be done analyzing it by now."

"Um, Prairie," Neal said grabbing her shoulder before she opened the door.

"Yes Neal," Prairie said waiting for what he was going to say.

"Thank you for listening to my story," Neal said. "Now that I know the truth, the _whole_ truth, maybe now I can completely move on."

Prairie smiled, then turned to open the door. "Oh, before we go, there's something else I have to know."

"Shoot," Neal said.

"Why didn't you investigate the _recent_ Maverick outbreak?" Prairie asked.

Neal rubbed the back of his head. "Well, there wasn't really any reason for me to. Besides, I figured after that_ first_ go around I had enough adventure to last a dozen lifetimes."

Prairie nodded. "In a way I can relate to that."

* * *

While Neal was with Prairie in her office, Vent and Aile waited outside the bridge for the new Mega Man to emerge, if he did at all.

"What's taking them so long?" Aile asked as she looked to her watch. "They've been in there for over an hour."

Now, it's a commonly known fact that most people are perverts, but just don't actively show it. For Vent, this was one of those cases, which would make him a Closet Pervert.

As his imagination started getting away from him, Aile gave him an odd look and then realized what he was thinking. "Ugh! Vent, you pervert!"

"What! I wasn't thinking anything!" Vent said defensively, or in other words _lied_.

Just as Aile was about to scold Vent for being such an idiot, Neal and Commander Prairie suddenly left the bridge and were headed for Fleuve's lab. Something noticeable about them was that they were both in better spirits then before they went in.

Vent nudged Aile's shoulder, but she just ignored the implications he was making.

"Right this way Commander," Neal said as he opened the door. "My Biometal is right through here."

"Thank you very much Neal," Prairie said as she entered Fleuve's lab.

Right as Neal was about to follow behind, Vent tapped his shoulder getting his attention.

"Uh, Neal," Vent said. "Is that a _catheter _in your arm?"

Neal looked to it before reaching to yank it out. "Not in a few seconds."

"But won't that hurt?" Aile asked.

"Aile," Neal said exasperatedly, "I've been shot at, punched by a giant mechaniloid, and chased by a crazed Mega Man on a tricked-out four-wheeler. I think removing a little _catheter_ won't be too much of a problem."

Right at the moment Neal yanked the catheter from his arm, a very loud, shrill scream rang through the air causing everyone in the vicinity to cover their ears as to not receive hearing damage.

"Good grief!" Vent yelled as he uncovered his ears. "Raise it another decibel why don't ya!"

"That wasn't me," Neal said uncovering his own ear. "It came from Fleuve's lab."

"You thieving piece of scrap!" Prairie screamed at the floating Biometal in Fleuve's lab, "I should've known I'd run into you again someday!"

"NEAL!!! SAVE ME!!!" Elpizo screamed as he flew out of Praire's reach and down the main hall.

"Get back here you traitorous swine!" Prairie screamed as she turned the corner. "You just wait til I get my hands on you!"

Vent, Aile, and Neal all looked at this odd spectacle with confused looks on their faces. The same could be said for any other Guardian that was watching. Of course, if _you_ saw your commanding officer screaming at a floating paperweight, you'd probably do the same.

"Guys," Neal said getting the attention of the two ZX Mega Men. "Is it common protocol for the Commander to chase Biometal down the halls and call it names?"

"Don't look at me," Vent said shrugging his shoulders.

"I've never seen her _act_ like this before," Aile added.

Right at that moment, Neal's biometal suddenly flew back down the hall and made a bee-line for him.

"_Biolink established!" _Elpizo blurted out as he flew right into Neal's chest. _"R.O.C.K. System, Activated!"_

In a flash of light, Neal stood in his mega merged form once again, shocking several of the Guardians in the process.

"Elpizo! Why did you use the R.O.C.K. System?" Neal asked as he looked himself over. The next moment Prairie tackled him, sending the two of them rolling back into the bridge.

"Elpizo you jackass! What the hell are you doing back here!?" Prairie demanded as she grabbed Neal's collar and shook him back and forth in an attempt to reach Elpizo. "I should kick your ass right now!"

"Elpizo!" Neal screamed as Prairie shook him back and forth, "What did you _do_ to this girl!?"

"_Run now! Talk later!" _Elpizo said as he took control of Neal's legs and forced his body up into a standing position.

"Elpizo! You better have a good explanation for this!" Neal demanded as his legs carried him and Prairie down the hall.

"Okay... That was... weird," Aile said at the sight of this spectacle.

"Model X. Model Z. Can you take control of our bodies like that?" Vent asked.

"_I'm not really sure,"_ Model X said.

"_We never really_ needed _to control your bodies like that, so its hard to say," _Model Z added.

"Do you know him from somewhere?" Aile asked. "Both of them called him Elpizo."

"_Like we've said before,"_ Model X spoke, _"we aren't authentic Biometal. We were made based on _other_ people's memories of us, so we don't remember anything before the point we were created."_

"_Still he's an odd one,"_ Model Z said. _"Most Biometal are symmetrical, but he isn't."_

"I think we need to go help them," Aile said.

"What makes you say that?" Vent asked.

The sound of two bodies tumbling down the stairs accompanied by swearing could be heard.

"_That's_ what I mean," Aile said as she ran down the stairs to follow the two of them.

* * *

Ten minutes later after an... _incident_ at the Guardian firing range, Neal and Prairie both sat across from each other in Rose's clinic. Elpizo, who will now be referred to as Model E, was floating above a table placed between them. Neal was being treated by Rose while Prairie was being treated by Fleuve.

"Elpizo. I can take getting shot at by crazed mechaniloids. I really can," Neal said. "But when you take control of my body and run it through an active firing range with every booth filled, that's where I draw the line."

Model E remained silent. He was supposed to be bringing the world back into balance, but so far he's brought nothing but trouble for an already emotionally scarred teen. Getting him shot at didn't help matters either.

"Prairie, I'm very sorry about what happened," Neal apologized as he looked away from his Biometal. "If I were stronger, then this wouldn't have happened."

"No, it's my fault," Prairie said as her injuries were being treated as well. "I let my emotions get the better of me and I put you through all that."

"I wouldn't want to get in the way of you two," Model E said as he began to float towards the door, "so I'll just leave you two to chat."

Just as he turned around to leave, he was faced by the angry glares of Model X and Model Z. Model E shrunk back to his seat, er- table.

"Model E. You've got some explaining to do," Neal said in a stern tone as Rose treated a plasma burn he had on his... thigh.

"What do you wish to know Neal?" Model E asked.

"Why did you freak out when Prairie chased you?" Neal asked, but then realized what he had said. "Okay let me rephrase that- What did you do to her to warrant that kind of behavior?"

Model E sighed. "It was a long time ago, during the Second Maverick Wars. There were these two Baby Elves at the base, after Operation Righteous Strike, which failed miserably, I took the two Baby Elves from the Resistance Base and headed off to crush Neo Arcadia on my own. The rest is ancient history. Literally."

Neal sighed, but then cringed as Rose put alcohol on his burns. "That's *cringe* understandable *cringe* I suppose."

"So Elpizo, or should I say Model E," Prairie said. "How did you end up becoming a Biometal? I know for a fact that Ciel didn't make a Model _E _Biometal."

"Its like this," Model E said as he faced Prairie. "Something in this world is causing the wall between The Living and the Cyber World to thin. I'm not exactly sure what will happen, but I can only imagine it'll be bad if the wall shatters altogether."

"You still didn't answer my question," Prairie said sternly. "How'd you become a Biometal?"

"Oh that's easy," Model E said. "I transed into a Model W, got rid of the old resident, and when I say old, I mean OLD. Then I reshaped it, I mean c'mon that thing was just creepy-looking. Anyway, that's about it."

Satisfied with her answer, Prairie decided she had heard all she needed to hear. "Well, that's all I need to hear."

"There, you're all set," Rose said as she finished treating Neal's burns.

"By the way, can I ask you something?" Neal asked. "How come I only got _little_ burns from those plasma rifles? I've seen pictures of people who've been hit, and _they_ looked worse for wear then _I_ did."

"Well, that's one of the benefits of having Biometal," Prairie explained. "When you're megamerged, you become more resistant to injury."

Neal nodded. "Hm. This could have serious ramifications on medicine as we know it. Then again, it only works for Chosen Ones, so I suppose it isn't that viable."

"Well Neal Prairie said as the two of them entered the hall, "for the time being, I can lend you one of the rooms at the Guardian Base so you can get some rest."

"Thank you very much," Neal said with a bow. "Once I get some rest, I'll do what I can to help with the_ save the world_ bit."

Prairie chuckled at that comment. "Well I haven't really heard it worded like_ that_ before, but yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."

Neal looked outside one of the windows and saw that the sun was already beginning to set. "Well, looks like its time for me to hit the sack. Good night Prairie."

"Good night Neal," Prairie said as the two of them parted ways. Right as she was about to get to her own room, something Neal said rang through her mind.

"_-then I sat down in an office with the lights dimmed and told my life's story to a pretty girl in a pink commander's uniform."_

Prairie shook herself out of her thoughts. _C'mon Prairie, snap out of it. You're too old for him. _Way_ too old for him._


	6. Training on the Grand Nuage

The next morning after Neal had introduced himself, he was enlisted as the newest member of the Guardians (for his own safety). At that time he was given the codename, Chosen 04, since he was the fourth Chosen One behind Giro, Vent, and Aile, who were members of the Guardians before him.

At the time, Neal's combat ability was rather limited. While Vent and Aile would've been able to do what Neal had done in Legion without getting hit _and_ in less time, Neal didn't have the battle prowess to fight on the same level as them.

In truth, Neal's power was very different from Models X and Z. Model E's weapon was a rapier, a weapon less designed for slashing and more for thrusting and/or stabbing. Of course the weapon could still cut, but not as effectively as a beam sword. Also, there were no built-in projectile weapons, so Neal didn't have the same benefits that Vent and Aile had with the ZX and X Busters.

There were also the fundamentals of movement that would have to be addressed, such as the Dash, the Wall Jump, and finding a fighting style that would work to Neal's advantage that would help with his limited ability.

Of course every operation is ten percent execution, and _ninety_ percent preparation. And _how_ exactly do heroes prepare for their day?

* * *

At that very moment, Vent, Aile, and Neal were in the cafeteria eating their breakfast. Since the three of them were still human, they needed to fuel their bodies for the upcoming training. And after all, breakfast _was_ the most important meal of the day.

As Aile and Neal ate their breakfasts quietly, Vent realized something and needed to ask Neal an important question.

"Hey Neal. I have a question for you," Vent asked.

Neal bit from some bacon and nodded. "What is it Vent?"

"Doesn't it feel weird being the only Mega Man out there wearing _pink_?" Vent asked, causing Aile to gag on her milk.

"Just what's wrong with _pink_?" Aile demanded as she gulped the rest of her milk down and slammed her palms on the table.

"Nothing," Vent answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just thought that since Neal is a _guy_ that maybe he'd want to be in a more _manly_ color."

"Hey Vent. Would you like to know _why_ I'm fine with pink?" Neal asked casually with a wave of his hand.

"Sure," Vent answered.

Strangely at that moment Neal stood up and left the cafeteria, which confused both Vent and Aile. When he got back, he was carrying a projector under his arm, which he set down on the table and had set up within a few minutes.

"The reason I am not upset about being the only Mega Man in pink is_ because_..." Neal said as he pressed a button on the remote control, causing the projector to project a yellow and red-striped Japanese sunset.

"I am fully confident in my sexuality!" he said boldly as he assumed a dynamic pose on the table, his left foot elevated and his left hand clenched into a fist, and his right on his hip.

This caused some of the other guardians there to question whether or not the newest Mega Man didn't have a screw loose after taking that one hit back in Legion. Of course it _did_ take all kinds so...

* * *

After their little "display" in the cafeteria that morning, Vent and Aile escorted Neal to the Grand Nuage's training room to help Neal with his fighting style.

The training room was located directly above the cargo hold and next door to the firing range. The room is pretty much a large empty room, but obstacles could be brought in for training purposes whenever they were necessary.

"Okay guys, lets get started," Neal said as he took Model E out of his pocket. "Megamerge!" he intoned as he spun it in his right hand before bringing it in front of his left shoulder, then moved it across his heart, simultaneously summoning his weapon with the same motion as he appeared in his megamerged form.

"Ah, I see you've already set up your own personal _flair _for when you megamerge,"Vent commented.

"It suits you very well," Aile added.

From the information that had been collected by Ashe, the other Mega Men had a certain "flair" for when they megamerged as well. Aeolus held his Biometal by his sword and transformed in a whirlwind, Atlas slammed hers into the ground and transformed in a pillar of flame, Thetis tossed his in his hand before being covered in a column of ice, and Siarnaq assumed a fighting stance and transformed in a swirl of a dark mist.

Next Vent and Aile megamerged as well with their own personal flair.

"Okay Neal, the first thing we'll work on are your physical abilities," Aile said as she walked over to some large crates placed by each other. "The first lesson will be the Wall Jump."

"Wall Jump?" Neal asked raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like a ninja trick to me."

"Well it isn't a trick exclusively for ninja," Aile explained. "When you're megamerged, an ability you have is the ability to jump between two walls to reach greater heights, or to jump up the side of a single wall to scale walls quickly, at greater ease."

Aile demonstrated by jumping onto the side of one crate, then onto the adjacent wall, and then on top of the first crate. "Now you try."

Neal took a deep breath before running at the first crate. His feet hit the side, but before he could do any more he lost his footing and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Try again Neal," Aile encouraged. "This time try to force yourself away from the first wall before going to the second one."

Vent watched with some amusement as Neal struggled to do the first Wall Jump right, whether it was falling off the first wall or slamming face-first into the second one. It just came from the part of people's minds that found other people's physical pain humorous.

"You almost got it that time," Vent said sarcastically as Neal hit the floor once again.

Neal huffed as he looked at the first wall again with narrowed eyes. He quickly ran to the first wall and planted his feet a yard above the ground, then before he could slide down, he quickly pushed himself off and turned in mid-air to plant his feet on the next wall, then pushed himself off again and landed right next to Aile.

"Good job," Aile said patting Neal's shoulder. "Next we'll move onto the Dash ability."

Aile hopped down and motioned Neal to follow as she motioned to a set of cones placed on the floor.

"Let me guess, it lets me move faster across the ground," Neal asked.

Aile nodded. "That's right. Whenever you need a quick boost of speed, the Dash will be invaluable. The Dash can also work on conjunction with the Wall Jump for added speed and height."

"Then wouldn't it have been more prevalent to teach me the Dash _before_ the Wall Jump?" Neal asked, rubbing the bruises he had under his black underarmor.

"Hehe. Guess I didn't think that one through," Aile said rubbing the back of her head. "Although I have to admit, you caught on pretty quickly."

"Well what can I say?" Neal said with a shrug of his shoulders, "I had a great teacher."

"Aw stop it Neal," Aile said waving him off, "you're going to make me blush."

At the same time, Vent retched at Neal's display toward his sister. Ignoring her brother with a huff, Aile continued with the lesson.

"I'm not completely sure how to explain how to do it," Aile said. "All I can say is to build energy into your legs and move forward with everything you have."

"Okay Aile," Neal said as he began to concentrate. He began to feel his Bio-Energy slowly build. When it reached its peak, Neal unleashed it at the bottoms of his feet and rushed forward.

* * *

At the same time outside the Training Room.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" a female Guardian member asked a male Guardian member as he set a bolt up onto the wall, under his arm was a large picture frame. "I'm not sure we should be trying to hang a picture on the wall."

"You think too much," the male Guardian member said as he hung a picture of the Grand Nuage on the wall. "Besides. Prairie will be thanking me later for livening up the place a bit."

As the two Guardian members stepped back to look at the picture, a loud crashing sound suddenly came from the other side of the wall. The next moment, the picture was jostled off its bolt and fell to the floor with a crash.

"Don't. Say. A word," the male Guardian member growled as he tried to pick up all the pieces of the broken frame while grumbling to himself.

The female Guardian member didn't say anything. Although she did giggle a bit.

* * *

Back in the training room.

"Dang," Neal moaned as he fell off the wall and onto the floor. "Felt like I just got hit by a truck."

"That's going to leave a mark," Vent commented as Aile helped Neal to his feet. "And just to clarify on that last statement, it should be the _other _way around."

"Good thing you have such strong armor," Aile commented as Neal tried to regain his balance, "otherwise that hit would've powdered every bone in your body."

"By the way, did you hear something crash outside?" Neal asked holding the sides of his head to make the room stop spinning. "It sounded like something fell off the wall."

"Nah, couldn't be," Vent said. "That stopped happening a long time ago when Prairie made it a rule not to hang pictures up on the walls."

Neal sighed as he shook the dizziness out of his head. "Well it isn't important. Anyway, what's the next lesson?"

"Don't you want to finish training with the Dash first?" Aile asked.

"Nah, it'd take too long to teach me everything else then," Neal said. "I can always work on the Wall Jump and the Dash on my own time anyway. So what's the next lesson?"

"That's where I'll be coming in," Vent said as he got up from his seat and put an arm over Neal's shoulder. "Since you don't use a projectile weapon, I'll be teaching you about a little thing called sword play."

"You mean fighting with the sword right?" Neal asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Vent said, obviously not catching the hint of sarcasm.

* * *

The next hour was mostly Vent criticizing Neal on his weak points in swordsmanship such as-

"Neal! Your grip is too tight!"

"Oh c'mon! Now your grip is too loose!"

"Are you even trying?"

"Your stance is too open!"

"C'mon, my sister fights better then you!"

Of course it went without saying that Aile didn't take that comment too kindly.

"You swing like a sissy!"

"You're too slow!"

"Your grip's too loose again!"

"Hey shut up Vent!" Neal roared at that last comment.

After that, the three of them left for the roof to take a break from training.

* * *

Neal, Vent, and Aile stood atop the Guardian Base's sky deck, overlooking the world down below as it moved through the skies. When Neal looked over the edge, to Vent and Aile's surprise he suddenly fell on his butt and hastily crawled toward the center of the roof.

"Is something wrong?" Aile asked.

Neal was still trembling from the shock of seeing the ground so far below, but eventually regained his composure to give a response. "Well... When I was a kid, I had a bad experience with... _flying_. Ever since then I've been afraid of high places" he confessed. Of course what he had left out was that he had flown out of a _collapsing building_. But that wasn't an important issue yet.

"Wow. It must've been pretty traumatic for you to scurry away like _that_," Vent commented.

As the Grand Nuage flew through the skies, another sound met their ears. It sounded like the roar of a large engine.

"What's that?" Neal asked as he got up.

As he and the others watched the starboard side of the ship, a large metal bow suddenly pushed up through the clouds. It was one of the large air ships commonly used by galleons when they needed to get from one place to another quickly.

**Author's Notes:  
****And by that I'm talking about those red shark-shaped ships.**

"_Vent! Aile! We have something on the radar!"_ Prairie spoke through the com links._ "It looks like a large airship!"_

"We see it!" Ashe answered. "Are we under attack?"

"_Not yet. But I wouldn't hold my breath," _Prairie said._ "Just be ready in case something happens. Hopefully if we don't attack it the ship will ignore us."_

"I don't think that's going to happen," Neal shouted into Vent's ear piece.

"Why's that?" Aile asked.

"Because we're already being boarded," Neal said as a boarding junction that looked like a mix between a door and a snake suddenly latched itself onto the side of the ship. The next moment the door was blasted open by a gout of flame, and its carrier walked out onto the roof of the Guardian Base.

"What the-" Vent said as he recognized the figure that came out.

"It can't be! We saw him go down ourselves!" Aile said taken aback by the figure's sudden appearance.

Neal's mind tried to process what was happening. So far he figured that they were being boarded, but that they were only being boarded by _one _mehcaniloid. It was a large orange and red-armored lion-shaped mechaniloid with a flaming mane, and large silver claws.

"Rooooar! I am Fistleo the Predatoroid!" the mechaniloid shouted. "This time I don't intend to lose!"

"Geez who _is _this guy?!" Neal asked as the large mechaniloid let out another threatening roar.

"That's Fistleo. One of the pseudoroids we faced in one of our previous adventures," Vent explained.

"I knew that Pseudoroids could eventually regenerate," Aile added, "but I never thought we'd _actually_ see him again."

"Don't think I'll fall for the same tricks twice!" Fistleo roared. He suddenly launched a wide gout of flame from his mouth at Neal, Vent, and Aile.

Neal dropped to the ground to dodge the blow, but Vent and Aile had to backstep back into the hangar to avoid getting fried.

"Neal you okay?" Aile asked as Neal got to his feet..

He quickly licked his fingers and put out a small flame that had started on top of his hair before giving an answer. "Don't worry. I'm good."

"C'mon Aile! Lets finish this guy!" Vent shouted as he pulled out his biometal.

"Not so fast!" Fistleo roared. He reared his head and arms back behind him before firing a large wave of purple fire out of his mouth and hands at the entrance to the hangar. As the flames afixed themselves to the roof, they suddenly formed a semi-clear barricade, keeping Neal separated from the others.

"Neal!" Aile cried as she tried to get through the flames, only to have Vent stop her.

"Its no good! These aren't ordinary flames, they're a force field of some kind," Vent said. "Somehow our old friend's gotten a little _upgrade _since the last time we fought him."

"But look at Neal," Aile said. "He's barely fought at all, and _already _he's having to face off against a pseudoroid!"

"Don't worry guys! I'll be fine!" Neal said as he stood his ground. "Just focus on getting rid of that airship on the starboard side. Last thing we need are _more_ guys attacking the ship."

"_Way ahead of you!"_ Prairie called out from the intercom. _"All starboard cannons prepare to fire on my signal!"_

On the right side of the Grand Nuage, panels began to move outward as Guardian troops manned large plasma cannons. They took aim as they charged their cannons and awaited for the signal to fire.

"_Fire!" _Prairie shouted over the intercom system.

"Megamerge!" Neal shouted simultaneously as he pulled out Model E and megamerged.

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Rockin' On**

As large balls of plasma fired out of the cannons and bombarded the side of the enemy ship, Fistleo charged at Neal with claws extended.

"You're mine!" Fistleo shouted as he swung in a wide arc with his right claws. Neal blocked the attack with his rapier, but was knocked backwards by the sheer force of the attack.

"Man. This guy's tougher then he looks," Neal said as he pulled himself to his feet and readied his weapon.

Fistleo roared and charged again, this time with an overhead strike aimed right at Neal. He quickly responded by bringing his sword up and blocking with both hands, only to buckle underneath Fistleo's brute strength.

"Rrgh. Not this time furball!" Neal shouted as he used all his strength to redirect Fistleo's attack behind him while he rolled underneath and quickly got into a stance.

As Fistleo pulled himself up from the ground, Neal quickly checked the Interface and went to the Cyber Elf page. Sitting in one of the slots was Recon, rested and ready to go.

"Recon! Scan that pseudoroid!" Neal ordered. Recon woke up with a start and shot out of Neal's visor at Fistleo, scattering crosshairs across his body as he did so. Fistleo tried to bat him away, but all of his efforts missed and Recon flew back into Neal's visor.

"_Targeting information acquired. Target: Fistleo," _Recon read out from his report while a wireframe appeared on the visual interface. _"He appears to be a Flame-Element enemy. Built for __close-range combat, but has a few ranged attacks."_

"Neal! Go for his face! That's his weak point!" Vent shouted over the roar of the flames and cannon fire.

"Not from where I'm standing!" Neal said as Fistleo lunged at him, noticing that the Fistleo-wireframe didn't show any evidence of weak points. He quickly dodged to the right and managed to get a slice in at his ankle. "Seems his face is extra-reinforced."

"That's odd," Vent said. "When Pseudoroids regenerate, they usually stay at the same strength as when they were fought the _first _time around. They aren't _supposed _to get stronger, or get new weapons for that matter either."

"Prairie! Analyze the fight," Aile spoke into his ear piece. "We may need to use this data later."

"_My operators are already on it,"_ Prairie said. _"For now just try and break through that barrier. I don't know how long Neal can hold out on his own."_

While Vent and Aile megamerged, Neal continued to fight against Fistleo on his own.

"I had _heard_ there was a new Mega Man since I was last time I was alive," Fistleo said as he and Neal circled each other on the roof. "At least this time it isn't a couple of scrawny _kids_."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment!" Neal said sarcastically as he lunged at Fistleo with an overhead strike. However, before the attack could connect, Fistleo caught the sword with his left hand and delivered a brutal fire punch with his right into Neal's gut, sending him flying across the deck.

"Damn!" Neal cursed as he hit the roof with a thud.

"Pitiful!" Fistleo spat as he brandished Neal's sword in his clawed hands. "You're as pathetic as they come!"

_This guy doesn't know about my weapon's power yet, _Neal thought to himself with a smug grin. _Maybe I can turn this around after all. _

Fistleo leapt at Neal with the stolen sword ready and prepared for an overhead strike. However Neal knew exactly what to do in this instance.

"Too slow!" Neal shouted as he summoned his sword back to his hand in a flash of light, much to Fistleo's shock as the blade left _his _hands. At the moment the sword changed hands, Neal readied his sword for a forward thrust to the chest, however Fistleo managed to twist out of the way in time and only took the hit through his left arm.

"Ha! Take that!" Neal said as he saw Fistleo's HP bar drop by a sixth.

"Damn you boy!" Fistleo roared as he held his left bicep with his hand.

"Heh. For a second there I thought you'd actually be a challenge," Neal said shakily as he shakily got to his feet, "but so far you've barely put up any of a fight."

"_Neal what're you doing?! You're barely holding up as it_ is_!" _Model E spoke through Neal's mind. _"Any more and you'll be finished!"_

_Its called "bluffing",_ Neal thought back. _If I can make him angry enough, he'll make more mistakes._

"ROOOAAAAARRRRRRR!!!" Fistleo roared in a fit of rage as massive red and orange flames covering his whole body, giving off the heat of an exploding volcano.

"_Okaaaay_. Maybe making him mad _wasn't _the best idea," Neal admitted as the heat from Fistleo's body began to sear a hole through the roof.

"_You think?"_ Model E asked in a sarcastic tone.

"RAAAAH!!!" Fistleo roared as he lunged headfirst at Neal, his body blazing like the sun itself as he barreled right at him, and then slammed headfirst into the wall of flame in front of the hangar.

**FOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

"Gyaah!" Vent and Aile cried as they barely managed to escape the aftershock of the attack.

* * *

Back in the bridge, the piloting crew payed close attention to the fight monitoring every detail of the Pseudoroid Fistleo. Suddenly there was a massive flash of light as Fistleo's full-body flame attack barreled right for Neal.

"Neal!" Prairie cried out as the searing heat from the attack fried the cameras, cutting Neal off from view.

"Commander, we've lost visual contact," Gardenia spoke as several monitors blacked out.

"We have also lost cameras 1 through 7," Tulip reported.

"So then all we have left is camera 8..." Prairie said halfheartedly.

"Commander," Marguerite spoke, "it seems that Fistleo's attack has missed."

"Huh?" was Prairie's response.

* * *

As the smoke cleared from the hangar, Fistleo stood in a mini-crater, pieces of metal alight with flame. A massive column of smoke was issuing from the hangar where parts of it had gone aflame.

"Where'd he go?" he asked himself as he looked around the roof. During his attack, it felt as though he only hit the wall, which must've meant the boy had dodged the attack somehow.

"Vent, do you think Neal managed to dodge the attack in time?" Aile asked.

"Probably," Vent replied. "Otherwise we would've heard a blood curling scream or something like that."

At that comment Aile smacked Vent over the back of the head. "Baka."

After a minute of looking around, his eyes eventually landed on their target. Or at least part of it anyway.

"So. Thought you could get away from me could you?" Fistleo asked as he walked nonchalantly over to the port side of the roof. Dangling from the edge on the ground railing was Neal, barely holding on. "Any last words?"

"Thbbbbbt!" Neal spat as he stuck his tongue out at Fistleo.

"Alright that's it!" Fistleo roared as he threw his head back and prepared to launch a gout of flame at Neal from point-blank range.

"Don't think so!" Neal shouted as he used the Dash to push his feet from the side of the ship, while still holding on to the railing with his hands, and grab onto Fistleo's head with his ankles. The next moment Neal threw Fistleo over the edge and through a window on the floor below.

Neal quickly dropped down to the next windowsill and pulled himself in, ready to fight Fistleo once again.

"Grrrr!!! You'll regret that!" Fistleo roared as his flaming mane doubled in size.

* * *

**MegaMan ZX Soundtrack – Ogre Claw**

Four Guardians stood across the hallway in both directions from the room Fistleo was thrown into, their blasters ready, after hearing reports of a large Pseudoroid attacking the Grand Nuage. Others stood by in other halls in case the battle spread out any further.

"Steady," one of the Guardians said as he tightened his grip on his blaster. "Steady..."

There was a moment of silence, but it was soon broken as the Pink Mega Man rushed out the door of the room, only for it to be torn off a moment later by the raging lion-type pseudoroid.

"Open fire!" the Guardian shouted to the others behind him as they began shooting at the Pseudoroid's unguarded flank, giving Neal the cover he needed to get some distance between him and the pseudoroid.

Fistleo quickly raised his arm up in defense before shooting a gout of flame at them.

"Take cover," the Guardian cried as he and the others leapt into the rooms beside them for cover.

"Leave them alone you flaming tin can!" Neal shouted, getting Fistleo's attention.

"Grrarrrr!" Fistleo shouted before launching a wall of flame at Neal, who quickly responded by bringing up his armored trench coat to shield himself from the heat as best he could.

After the flames died down, Neal lunged at Fistleo. Fistleo swung right, scraping his fist across the wall, only to have Neal barely duck underneath in time before slashing at his abdomen, and stepping backwards after Fistleo launched a gout of flame at the floor he was standing on.

"DAMN YOU!" Fistleo roared. "STAND STILL SO I CAN HIT YOU!!!"

"Not likely," Neal said as he pulled his left eyelid down and stuck his tongue out at Fistleo, goading him further into making a critical mistake.

Said pseudoroid growled angrily before launching a large column of flame right at Neal.

_Crap! It's too big to dodge!_ Neal realized to his own horror as the flame attack took up too much of the hall for him to dodge to the left or the right.

However, before the attack connected, a thick security barricade dropped down in front of him, shielding from the attack.

"_Neal! This is Prairie! Do you read me?" _Prairie's voice said through the comm link.

"I hear you," Neal replied. "Thanks for dropping the barricade."

"_It won't last too long," _Gardenia said. _"You've only got ten seconds before Fistleo's flame attack breaks through that barricade."_

Neal immediately noticed that the center of the barricade was beginning to turn red, obviously having reached its melting point. "Then just tell me what to do," he said as he tightened his grip on his sword. "How do I finish this guy?"

* * *

On the other side of the barricade, Fistleo was nearing his reload point, where he'd need to recharge his flamethrower before he could use it again, and the wall was just about to go down.

The next moment the barricade shattered, and pieces of metal flew across the halls. The hall had begun to fill with smoke from the site of the explosion.

"Yes!" Fistleo roared in triumph. "I killed him!"

But his moment of triumph was interrupted as the smoke at the end of the hall parted, revealing the pink-armored Mega Man, his sword in hand as energy began to build.

"Its time to end this fight, right here and now!" Neal roared as he lunged headfirst at Fistleo and unleashed the built up energy inside his E-Rapier.

"You're _dead_ this time!" Fistleo roared as his right fist was suddenly engulfed in orange flame, and he attempted to deliver a devastating right hook, only to find himself stopped midway through the swing.

**KRRRRRTCHHHHH**

_What the? Gah! _Fistleo thought to himself before he saw that his right fist had become wedged into the wall beside him.

"You've fallen into my trap!"

Fistleo turned away from the wall and realized that the pink-armored Mega Man was already upon him. _Damn it! I don't fight well in confined spaces!_

"Certain Kill!!!" Neal roared as he felt all of his body's energy converging into his right arm and sword. At the same time, a large amount of data poured from Model E and directly into his mind, incorporating a powerful new technique. "Sword Rain!" he shouted as he quickly thrust his E Rapier through Fistleo's unguarded body multiple times, piercing his chest, arms, and legs in a fury of sword stabs. The resulting attack had only taken a few moments, but by the end Fistleo already had eight large puncture wounds across his body.

The resulting attack knocked Fistleo backwards, his broken body coming apart as he tumbled down the hall from the sheer force of the attack.

"How... can this... be happening... again?!" Fisleo roared before beams of light shone out from his body, before a massive explosion filled the hall.

Neal barely had enough time to turn around and shield his eyes from the blast before getting knocked backwards by the force of the explosion.

As soon as he righted himself a few moments later, another message in blue writing appeared on the visor before disappearing.

**You acquired the EX Skill: Lion Blazer **

"Phew. Good thing _that's _over," Neal said to himself as he finally allowed his shoulders to slump downward. The next moment the megamerge canceled, leaving him in his human form.

"Neal! Neal are you alright?"

He turned his gaze down the hallway and saw Vent, Aile, Prairie, and Rose coming towards him.

"Don't worry guys. I'm... fine..." he said warily before passing out on the floor.

As Rose and two other Guardians moved Neal onto a stretcher and got him to the infirmary, Prairie looked back to what was left of Fistleo's body, which wasn't much to say the least.

"Five years. Why would Fistleo appear after all this time?" Prairie asked herself as Vent and Aile spread out to get help fixing the hole in the side of the ship.

"I don't know why either," Vent said. "Truthfully I though we'd seen the last of him at Serpent's main office building."

"I'll have Fleuve examine his memory banks," Prairie said. "See if I can get some decent info out of it."

"I'm still surprised that Neal managed to beat Fistleo after so little training," Aile commented. "He barely had any training, but he still won."

"Yeah, but it was only because of the barricade and Fistleo's overconfidence," Vent said in a serious tone. "Against another Mega Man, he wouldn't last five minutes."

"We'll just have to hope he learns fast," Prairie said. "Neal acquiring Model E may've been by chance, or maybe not, but I have the strangest feeling that things are about to get very hectic again."

* * *

**Bio-Energy isn't an official term used by Inti Creates. It is simply a way for me to categorize the type of energy that exists in Biometal, which gauges its power output.**

**Neal's EX Skill, Lion Blazer, is a concept under my ownership. It will come to relevance in later chapters.**

**Next time on Mega Man ZXA: Recurrence...**

"_Things have been peaceful since Ouroborous fell into the sea."_

"_What're you looking for?"_

"_Someone's been here!"_

"_Ugh! If its Buckfire again, I swear there's gonna be hell to pay,"_

"_You give me your name and I'll give you mine,"_

"_Biometal... Model... A..."_

**See you then. **


	7. A Grey Reploid

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Den of Hunters**

It was another clear sunny day at the oil fields, which were situated a few miles from Hunter's Base. With everything being relatively peaceful since Ouroborous fell into the ocean, she was now enjoying the peaceful world.

Word had yet to reach about the mehcaniloid insurgence at Legion, so right now our favorite silver-haired Hunter was enjoying things.

During her previous adventures, she had brought the Raiders over to the side of the Hunters and had united them back into a single force, as they were before their defection. Ashe was looked upon as a bigger sister for Hunters everywhere, and she'd slowly been gaining a reputation as the greatest hunter who ever lived.

At the moment she was laying on top the Hunters Desert Base's roof enjoying the sun wearing an orange bikini and dark blue sunglasses. Model A was situated next to her on a small towel so he wouldn't scald Ashe's hands when she reached for him next.

"What a beautiful day," Ashe said as she watched the clouds roll by.

"I'll say," Model A replied. "Things have been peaceful since Ouroborous fell into the sea."

Ashe nodded. "Yep. Its_ our _time to live, and the world is our oyster."

"Yep. And it's been a full month since then," Model A said. "I'm just glad all the fighting's over. Although I suppose a good fight once and a while _would_ be nice."

Ashe nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I enjoy carefree Hunter work and all, but c'mon where's the challenge in that?"

Model A thought for a moment before he remembered something important, almost like it had been repressed. "Hey Ashe. I think I remember something we need to do. I'm not sure why, but I feel like there's something that's been left undone."

"What is it?" Ashe asked.

"I don't completely remember," Model A said. "All I know is that there's something we have to do at the abandoned laboratory."

"You mean where we fought Hedgeshock?" Ashe asked. "You know come to think of it, there was that one bridge that had gotten knocked out. What do you think did that?"

"Who knows. Maybe a mechaniloid or something did it," Model A said as he floated to Ashe's side.

Ashe got up and stretched. "Well come on then. Lets go."

After Ashe gathered her belongings, put her hunter clothers on, she bid farewell to the Hunters at the Desert Base and made her way to the north, where Model A said the lab was situated be.

She had asked why they not use the Transerver, but Model A just said it would be better if they walked. Ashe didn't have any complaints, especially since she could practice with her A-Trans capabilities on the way there. During the time of "peace", there was seldom oportunity for that.

* * *

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Whisper of Relics**

After a few day's trip north, Ashe and Model A finally came upon the mountain valley that led to the abandoned laboratory. The trail was relatively small, roughly large enough for a regular sized vehichle to use, and the sheer cliffs overlooking the river meant certain death if anyone _without Biometal fell in._ The sky was clear, the stars were shining, and the full moon held its place amidst the night sky.

The trek up the mountain was long and arduous, but by using her A-Trans abilities to their maximum, getting there was a relatively easy task.

When Ashe needed to climb up sheer wall,s she remembered that Vultron could cling to walls and that she can hover over short distances before having to grab onto something again. When the path was obstructed by large boulders she remembered that Bifrost can crush anything with his mighty jaws and that he can smash other obstacles with his tail.

When Ashe had reached a cliff overlooking the valley, Model A separated from her and began examining the cliff face.

"What're you looking for?" Ashe asked as she began looking over the cliff wall too.

"I scarcely remember there being a secret passage here," Model A said as he floated by the cliff face. "However I think a landslide may've blocked the door."

"Well you know what they always say," Ashe said as she plucked Model A out of the air. "If you can't find a door, you _make_ one."

In a flash of light Ashe had transformed into Atlas in her megamerged state and used her Knuckle Busters to knock a section of rock away. Lying underneath was a tightly locked metal door.

"You found it!" Model A cheered. "Now we can go in."

A moment passed without much of anything happening before Model A realized that the door was locked from the inside. "Just perfect. What're we going to do now?" he moaned.

"Hmmm... The door looks too tough to simply _break _through," Ashe said to herself as she tried to remember all of the abilities in her arsenal, when suddenly inspiration struck her. "I've got it! A-Trans!" In a flash of light Ashe had transformed into Argoyle.

"But what's Argoyle going to do?" Model A asked.

As Ashe sat in a meditative stance, an afterimage of Urgoyle appeared from out of her and faced the door. With a bit of effort she was able to will the Ghost itself to move on its own through the door and look around on the other side.

"I see the control panel," Ashe said as she willed the Ghost forward and activated the control panel. With a whoosh the door opened, and Ashe returned to her megamerged form.

"Thats right, now I remember," Model A said. "Argoyle can summon Urgoyle as a Ghost when we A-Trans."

"Yeah, but I don't really have the hang of using that technique yet," Ashe admitted. "It takes too much focus for the simplest of motions unless I mirror them myself."

"Well, the door's open, shall we go in?" Model A asked.

* * *

Ashe nodded and went in. The whole place was like the abandoned lab the first time around. Empty and quiet as a grave.

"So what're we looking for exactly," Ashe asked as she kept her blasters poised.

"Well..." Model A said. "You remember how I was designed to contain Albert's whole plan? Well, when I was built, it wasn't necessarily intended to be seen by _you_."

"What do you mean it wasn't meant for me?!" Ashe demanded. "Who _else _would need to see it!?"

"I don't completely remember all the details," Model A said, "but I think Albert may've had a son who was supposed to see it."

"Albert had a son?" Ashe responded.

"In a sense anyway," Model A said. "He isn't Albert's son in the traditional sense. He was supposed to be Albet's successor, so that if anything were to happen to _him_, then the world would still be indirectly in Albert's hands."

"Yeah, but Albert is gone now," Ashe said. "So where is this _successor_ anyways?"

Ashe and Model A came up on one last metal door in the deepest part of the complex.

"Its behind here," Model A said. Ashe moved toward the door, but suddenly stopped and reeled back. "What is it Ashe?" he asked.

"Someone's been here!" Ashe said as her eyes landed on a control panel next to the door. The keyboard was pried off, and several wires were cut and reconnected. "Get ready Model A!"

Ashe activated the door and leapt in, her guns ready for whatever would attack. A minute of complete silence passed until Ashe allowed her trigger finger's to relax. "No one's here," she said as she walked to the center of the room.

"So I'm guessing someone was here before us, but isn't here now," Model A said.

At that moment, a strange odor met Ashe's nose. "Gah! Disgusting!"

"What is it?" Model A asked. Not having a nose, he didn't know what Ashe was smelling.

"Look," Ashe sullenly answered. She pointed to the center of the room where the bodies of two hunters were fallen some time ago. The remains of several galleons were spread through the room as well.

"Ashe! Over there, in the center of the room!" Model A said, snapping Ashe to attention.

Ashe looked to the center of the room, her eyes widened in shock. Suspended in a tall glass cylinder was a silver-haired reploid kid who appeared to be in a very deep sleep. He wore a purple and orange jumpsuit, white shoes with yellow bolts and orange ankle bands, orange straps tied to his wrists, and connected to a large red chestplate were two large red cables with yellow plugs linked to the top of the tank. He had a red triangle on his forehead like most reploids, but had a small scar on the left side of his face below his eye.

"A reploid kid? Is _this_ what you were talking about?" Ashe asked as she walked up to the tank.

"Yeah..." Model A said as he separated from Ashe and floated face-level with the sleeping reploid kid. "Wait... Ashe! The control panel!"

"The control panel?!" Ashe asked. "What about it!?"

"Quick! Check the control panel! Before its too late!" Model A pleaded as he practically _dragged _Ashe over to the control panel.

Ashe rushed over to the control panel and booted it up. As Model A hung over her shoulder, the status of the reploid kid was finally revealed.

**MIND CONTROL PROCESS: ERROR DETECTED**

**SYSTEM REBOOT ADVISED**

**AWAITING SYSTEM REBOOT CONFIRMATION**

"Phew. Thank goodness," Model A sighed with relief. "For a minute there I thought we'd be too late to save him."

"What do you mean?" Ashe asked. "If the boy in the fish tank was supposed to be Albert's successor, then why would he need to be protected?"

"Look at the control panel," Model A said. "It says _Mind Control Process_."

"Yeah. And?" Ashe asked.

"If the Mind Control process had been completed, then we'd have _another __Albert_ on our hands!" Model A answered.

"Well I guess we can count ourselves lucky then," Ashe said. "Something must've hit the control panel and had caused it to short-circuit."

"Yeah, I guess we did luck out," Model A said.

"Well what're we waiting for?" Ashe asked with a smile on her face. "Lets get my little bro out of that thing."

"Yeah, but how do you suppose we do that?" Model A asked.

"A-Trans!" Ashe called as she took hold of Model A and transformed into Buckfire. "Meteor Kick!" she yelled as she leapt into the air and launched a devastating kick to the glass cylinder that held the reploid kid in place.

The glass shattered on impact, and the next moment the entire thing broke away and the water spilled across the room, drenching Ashe and Model A in the process.

"Was that really necessary?" Model A asked. "I mean surely there could've been a more _subtle_ way to do that."

"But where's the fun in that?" Ashe asked. The next moment, the reploid kid's wires disconnected from the top of the tank, causing him to fall to the ground, thankfully without landing on any shards of glass. However he _did _land with a loud thud.

"You know, now that I think about it," Ashe said, "I don't really see the resemblance between him and Albert."

"What do you mean?" Model A asked.

"I think maybe he came out too dark," Ashe said, pointing out that the reploid kid's dark skin contrasted to Albert's pale complexion. "And why does he have a scar?"

"I don't think that's really important," Model A said. "So c'mon, lets get him out of here."

"Yeah,"Ashe agreed as she threw the reploid boy over her shoulder and went back the way they came.

"Hey Ashe. What do you suppose his name is?" Model A asked as they left the room behind.

"Hmmm. I think we'll call him, Grey," Ashe said.

"Grey?" Model A asked. "Where'd you get a name like that?"

"Because of the color of his hair," Ashe replied.

"Oh. Okay then," Model A said.

* * *

After Ashe took Grey out of the abandoned lab and down the valley, they came across a train station that would take them back to the Hunters Base. Or at least to that general area. From there they could get back to the Hunter's Base on foot.

Grey hadn't woken up yet, and Ashe was beginning to wonder if he was even still alive. After a brief analysis, Model A confirmed that Grey was still alive and that he was just suffering from Hibernation Sickness. Said he'd probably be awake and walking again in a few hours.

Ashe was hoping it'd be _sooner_ rather than later, because even though Ashe was at a distant outpost, people were still giving her odd looks as she carried the body of an unconscious reploid over her shoulders.

_But then... If Grey was still in the tank, what could've caused the bridge to collapse? _Model A asked himself. _Aw, we'll probably never know. In our line of work, pretty much _anything_ could've caused it._

Later that day, Ashe and Grey were situated on a train and were headed back to the Hunters Base. Like with many trains those days, the passing landscape was barren, with little to no life inhabiting it. A half hour into the trip, Grey began to stir.

"Hey Model A. He's waking up," Ashe said taking out her Biometal.

As Ashe and Model A got to attention, Grey slowly opened his eyes. After that, nothing happened.

"Um. Hi," Ashe greeted.

Grey didn't respond.

"I'm Ashe, and this is Model A," Ashe said introducing herself and her Biometal. "I guess you could say I'm your big sis."

Grey didn't respond.

"Okay Model A, what's with this guy?" Ashe whispered, hoping Grey wouldn't hear.

"He's probably still suffering from Hibernation Sickness," Model A said. "Or _maybe_ he's this way because_ someone_ attacked his tank with Buckfire's _Meteor Kick_!"

"Oh come on Model A, I don't think_ that _did it," Ashe said.

"What makes you say that?" Model A demanded.

"If that were the case, then his eyes wouldn't be glazed over like that," Ashe said, pointing to Grey's eyes which were glazed over with a strange orange hue.

"Well try again," Model A said. "Maybe he just didn't hear you the first time."

"Hello? Grey? You in there?" Ashe asked as she waver her hand in front of Grey's eyes, but didn't get a response. She slapped him a few times across the face, but didn't get any real reaction besides him turning to straighten his head.

"This is pointless," Ashe said exasperated after a minute. "Maybe someone back at the Hunters base will know what to do."

The next moment there was a loud noise from the front of the train.

"What was that?" Model A asked.

"Ugh! If its Buckfire again, I swear there's gonna be hell to pay," Ashe said as she got up from her seat and went for the emergency exit on the train's roof.

* * *

A minute later Ashe came to the roof of the train, the sky clear and the wind blowing through her hair. She looked toward the engine and saw that it was now aflame.

"What happened?" Ashe asked as she and Model A looked around.

The next moment a body burst through the next coach up, but this one wasn't Buckfire. The Maverick that stared Ashe down was a tall Panther-type pseudoroid with black, red, and gold armor with large silver claws.

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Deep-Seated Grudge**

"Growwwl... So you're the Model A Mega Man I've been hearing so much about," the pseudoroid said as it assumed a fighting stance with its claws readied. "Tell me, what's your name."

"You give me your name and I'll give you mine,"Ashe retorted.

"Haha! You've got guts little girl!" the pseudoroid spoke. "I am Panther Flauclaws, servant of Master Aeolus."

"Aeolus! You mean he's still alive!" Ashe said shocked.

"Yes! That's right little girl!" Panther spoke. "Nothing personal, but you're going to have to be a good girl and go to sleep. My master is very interested in that Model A of yours."

"Oh yeah? We'll you'll have to take it from my cold dead Hunter hands," Ashe said as she took hold of Model A. "Mega-"

"Too slow!" Panther shouted as he threw a ball of electricity at Ashe before she could megamerge. The resulting shock stunned Ashe while sending Model A clattering across the roof. Thankfully he didn't fall over the edge of the train.

"Ugh!" Ashe moaned as she raised herself up, only to be pinned down by Panther's claws.

"Sorry little girl, but I'm afraid I can't let you megamerge," Panther said as he readied his left claws to end Ashe's life. "It'd be too much trouble for me if you _did_."

"Oh man! Is this _really_ how its going to end?" Ashe said as she struggled under Panther's grip.

"Say goodnight little girl," Panther cackled as he raised his claws. As he was about to strike, the sound of a roof hatch being opened caught his attention. "What?"

Panther looked to the end of the train and saw a grey-haired reploid kid coming towards him.

"Grey! Get away from here! Its too dangerous!" Ashe yelled, still struggling under Panther's grip.

Grey's eyes were unmoving. As he walked forward, his eyes eventually landed on the disoriented Model A. After a moment he picked it up, almost like in curiosity and looked it in the eyes.

"Biometal... Model... A..." Grey finally spoke in an emotionless tone.

"Oh? What do you think you can do with _that _little boy?" Panther asked as he held Ashe pinned to the top of the train. "I've already _got_ that Biometal's Chosen One."

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Destiny**

Grey took his eyes off Model A and met Ashe's, and then Panther's. He closed his eyes, but when he opened them they were suddenly green. "Get your hands off my sister you maverick!"

"Oh? And what're _you_ going to do about it?" Panther asked.

Grey took Model A in both hands and held it to the air. "Megamerge!"

"_Biolink established. M.E.G.A. System, Online!"_ Model A involuntarily spoke.

There was suddenly a bright flash of light that reached the heavens. At that moment, tremendous amounts of energy were pouring into Grey's body, as were memories of all of Ashe's past battles against pseudoroids into his memory banks.

When the light cleared, Ashe's eyes widened as Grey now stood megamerged with Model A. The only real difference between his and _her _megamerged form was that Grey's cables were over his shoulders.

"No way," Ashe said utterly amazed.

"Well this was certain unexpected," Panther said. "But no matter! I can still eliminate the girl!"

"Not on your life dirtbag!"Ashe shouted as she jerked her arm free and brought out her blaster. Before Panther could make his move, Ashe pulled the trigger and fired a plasma bullet right at Panther's face, causing him to jerk back to dodge after releasing his grip.

Panther was about to lash out at Ashe before she could escape, however Grey suddenly dashed between them and pointed his blasters right at him. "What the-"

"Eat this!" Grey shouted as he readied his Homing Shot attack. His line of vision turned purple and red cursors began covering Panther's body. When he pulled the trigger, eight blasts leapt out of the muzzle all at once and struck Panther simultaneously.

"Gyao!" Panther cried as the force of the point-blank attack sent him flying over the edge of the train.

"Woah, I had no idea you could megamerge with Model A!" Ashe said as she got up. "But then again, Model A _was _meant for you in the first place, so I suppose I should expect no less."

Before any more words could be exchanged however, Panther suddenly pulled himself back up the train and launched three pink boomerangs at Ashe. However right as she was about to get hit, Grey threw himself in front of Ashe and took the full brunt of the attack.

"Grey! Are you alright?" Ashe asked as Grey fell to his knees.

"Don't worry sis, I'm fine," Grey said as he stood up.

"Well that's good to hear," Ashe said. "If you pass Model A over to me, I'll handle the rest of the battle. That guy caught me off guard is all."

Grey shook his head. "I don't know why, but I feel like I _have_ to do this. Will you allow me to fight in your stead?"

Ashe sighed in defeat after a moment's thought. "Okay then. But you better not lose, or else I'm going to give you a piece of my mind."

Grey smiled at that. "You go over to the front of the train. It should be safe to watch from there."

Ashe nodded as she leapt over the coaches to the front of the train. As she got out of the line of fire, Panther approached Grey.

"That was a lucky shot," Panther said as he flexed his claws and his eyes narrowed, "but all the same you're going to lose."

"Just try me!" Grey said as he readied his blasters.

In the blink of an eye, Grey fired a charged shot at Panther, only to have him leap over the attack and pounce at him. Grey back-stepped and fired two more charge shots, only for Panther to dodge both of those too and slash at him. Grey tried to retaliate, but Panther was too quick and kept dodging the shots. The next moment Panther suddenly leapt high into the air, then shot at Grey and delivered a devastating kick to his chest. As Grey fell to his knees, Panther leapt back and dug his claws into the roof of the train.

"This is the end of the line for you!" Panther roared as he began building up electricity through every part of his body. "Tail Spark!"

Panther's tail suddenly latched onto the roof of the train as his body discharged the energy. As a wave of electricity surged through the cart, Grey finally regained his bearings and changed carts just in time to dodge the attack.

"Grey! Are you okay?" Ashe asked from her spot at the front of the train.

Grey gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry I'm fine, although now I guess I should use A-Trans."

"You know about A-Trans?" Ashe said surprised, since no one had even _told _him about it.

"Yeah. I just remembered how to do it," Grey said. "Okay then, lets give it a shot!"

Panther lunged at him with claws drawn. "Graaaar!"

"A-Trans!" Grey shouted as he transformed in a bright flash of light. When the light cleared, Panther's eyes widened as he suddnly found himself mid-lunge at the wrong end of a massive crocodile-type pseudoroid head-first. Grey quickly swung his tail at Panther, knocking him straight out of the air and onto the ground with a crash.

"Great job Grey!" Ashe cheered as Panther hit the roof with a thud.

In a flash of light Grey returned to his megamerged form and dashed at Panther. "Thanks sis!" He immediately charged at Panther just as he was about to recover and tapped into the power of his Biometal. "A-Trans!"

As Panther got up, his eyes widened in shock as a tall gazelle-type pseudoroid came right at him before jumping into the air.

"Meteor Kick!" Grey shouted as he delivered a powerful kick to Panther's stomach, sending him straight through the roof and into the inside of the coach below.

Panther growled to himself as he got up. At that moment Grey changed back to his megamerged form.

"You're strong I'll give you that," Panther said. "But I won't be so easy to defeat. I'm even stronger then the _first_ time I was alive."

"First time?" Grey asked.

"And guess what? There's no place for you to escape _this_ time!" Panther said as he dug his claws into the ground and built up electricity again. "Tail Spark!"

As his tail touched down and electricity began to fill the coach, Grey quickly jumped into the air and tapped into his Biometal. "A-Trans!"

The next moment Grey had transformed into Vultron, air-dashed to close the gap between him and Panther, and then nailed h im right in the face with his Guitar Hammer attack, sending him through the back door of the train to the outside. However before he flew too far, Panther quickly caught hold of the back of the train and pulled himself to the roof. Grey followed and faced Panther on the roof once again.

"Dude! I rock!" Grey cheered as he played a quick series of notes on his guitar like an estatic rock star.

Panther growled furiously as Grey continued to mock him. "Curses! I was supposed to be even stronger than ever! How can I still be losing?"

"What's the matter Panter? Getting tired?" Ashe asked in an amused tone from her spot at the front of the train.

Panther growled before charging right at Grey. "Graaaah! I won't let you make a fool of me!"

Grey tapped into the deepest part of Model A and drew upon its greatest attack. "GIGA CRUSH!!!"

**RATA-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TA-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT**

For the next moment the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire and rending steel. A moment later, the attack ended and the battle had ended.

"N-Noooo!" Panther cried as nearly every part of his body was blasted out from himself. "How could I lose again? Yaaaah!"

And as with every other pseudoroid defeated, Panther exploded in a giant ball of fire. As the smoke cleared, a glowing green ball of data was floating where Panther once was before flying right into Grey's chest.

"You captured Panther's Data," Model A said as he separated from Grey.

"Grey that was awesome!" Ashe cheered as she ran over and pulled Grey into a headlock. "I never knew you could fight like that!"

"Hehe. Well me neither," Grey said rubbing the back of his head. "I guess I just got lucky back there."

"Hey guys. The train's slowing down," Model A said as the train slowly came to a halt. Apparently Panther had blown out the engine room and the train began slowing down from that point onward, and that now it was becoming _noticeable_.

* * *

A minute later, Ashe, Grey, and Model A found themselves in the train's engine room. This train was fully automated so there was no engineer, but the controls for the entire system were completely trashed.

"What're we going to do now?" Grey asked Ashe as he looked at the smashed control panel and damaged energy core. "We can't get back to town without this train, otherwise they may think _we _had something to do with it."

"Hey Grey, try transforming into that Panther guy," Model A said. "With his Tail Spark, you can re-energize the whole train and get it moving again."

"Thanks a lot Model A," Ashe pouted. "Five minutes with the guy and you've _already_ replaced me."

"W-what're you saying?" Model A whined. The next moment Grey plucked him out of the air and held him out to Ashe.

"Here you go," Grey said. "After all, you had Model A long before I did."

Ashe glared at Model A, but then sighed. "No, you do it. After all _you_ defeated Panther, so I suppose its only fair that you christen Model A's new A-Trans option."

"Thanks sis!" Grey said as he pulled Ashe into a tight, affectionate hug.

"Alright enough already," Ashe pleaded as she wrestled herself free from Grey's grip. "Just hurry up and do it before I change my mind."

"Okay," Grey said happily as he took hold of Model A. "A-Trans!"

In a flash of light, Grey had transformed into Panther Flauclaws. He placed both hands into the sides of the battery chamber and began building power.

"Here we go!" Grey said as he tightened his grip and stuck his tail into the console. "Tail-Spark!"

As the electricity from Grey's body filled the train's energy network, the wheels began to creak back to life. A minute later the train began moving forward once again.

"Phew," Grey said as he fell out of his A-Trans state and fell to the ground. "That took a lot out of me."

"Well I guess that move is Panther's equivalent to Giga Crush," Model A said as he floated back to Ashe's hands. "I'll have to remember that little detail for later."

"Yeah. But I wonder where that guy came from?" Ashe asked as she pocketed her Biometal.

"I just remembered something," Grey said as he pulled himself back up.

"What is it?" Ashe asked.

"That guy said something about how he was stronger then when he was alive the _first_ time," Grey said. "I'm not sure what he meant about it though."

"Hm. Me neither," Ashe said. "I mean it isn't like you can just bring dead things back to life. Can you?"

Grey shook his head. "I don't know. Anyway, lets get back to our seats. I'm beat."

And with that, Ashe and Grey went back to their seats, since the "charge" the train got from Grey would hopefully be enough to get them to the next stop.

However Ashe took the time to notice something in particular before getting back to her seat.

Why were they the only ones on the train?

* * *

**Since in my story Model A now has access to Panther Fauclaw's DNA, I just felt compelled to show what Panther's Profile would be like In-Game. Whether or not you read it is up to you. Enjoy.**

**PROFILE:  
****Panther Flauclaws**

**Pounce - Press L-Button on land to pounce on nearest target.**_** If none available, jumps up and forward 1 and 3 "Character Lengths". **_

**Spark Blast - Hold B-Button (Long) and then release. **_**Throws a small Elec-Element projectile.**_

**Panther Kick - Hold B-Button (Long) and then release in the air. **_**Similar to Buckfire's Meteor Kick, except with no element.**_

**Spark Boomerang - Hold R-Button (Long) and then release. Throws two boomerangs forward with no delay. **_**Slash-Type projectiles that move forward and return, like boomerangs (DUH!).**_

**Tail Spark - Hold Y-Button with BM gauge full and press DOWN. **_**Electrifies visible field ground (and/or ceiling) with Elec-Element attack.**_

**IN-GAME DETAILS**

**Main - Claws (Melee)  
****3-Slash attack. Right-Slash, Left-Slash, Upper-Slash.**

**Sub - Boomerangs (Projectile)  
****Button Press throws one boomerang with three second delay, then returns. Cannot use when one boomerang is "active".**

**Wall Jump - N/A**

**Mobility - Same as Model A, ZX, H, F, L, & P.**

* * *

**And that's it for this chapter. Ashe pulled Grey out of his fish tank, Grey fought Panther, and Model A captured another piece of prime-cut Pseudoroid DNA.**

**As for what could've brought the bridge down if Grey didn't do it? Well, try to use your imagination.**

**Next chapter we'll be getting back to Neal and his adventures as a Chosen One. So until then, see ya later.**


	8. A Whispered Plea

**A few days later after Neal's training and his battle against Fistleo.**

Neal awoke with a wide yawn. He stretched his arms and looked out the window in his bedroom.

The bedroom Prairie had given him was one of the last vacant rooms on the top floor facing the starboard side. Like every other room it had a window, a bunk bed, bureau, and nightstand. His trench coat was hung on a hook on the wall while the contents of his bag were spread in the drawers.

"Man that was a good sleep," Neal said as he got out of bed. For the past few days, he'd been training in the various skills he'd been taught, this morning being right after a long day of practicing.

As he got dressed, something ran by his ear. Almost like a whisper.

**. . . h . . . **

"What was that?" Neal asked as he looked around his room. "Model E, are you messing with me or something?"

A banging noise came from Neal's sock drawer. After Neal opened it Model E flew out and sat next to the lamp.

"Those are some comfortable socks by the way," Model E said making a sound like yawning metal. "What's the thread count, because those things were fan_tastic_."

"Model E, did you hear anything just now?" Neal asked facing his biometal.

Model E shook his head... er, body. "Only a whisper. Why?"

Neal looked out the window and off into the distance. "I'm not sure."

* * *

Every once in a while for the rest of the day, the same odd whisper would go by his ear. He couldn't explain it. It was almost like something was calling to him.

Some time later that day he found himself in the observation deck at the ship's bow. Down below were the clouds, and below the clouds was the ocean, shimmering between blue, green, and white.

"What are you trying to say?" Neal asked to no one in particular, directing his thoughts to where the whispering was coming from. The next moment the door to the observation deck whooshed open and Aile came in.

"Morning Neal. You sleep well last night?" she asked.

Neal nodded. "Yeah..."

"Is something troubling you?" Aile asked. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"I... I'm not sure," Neal said.

Aile waited for Neal to continue on his own.

"Hey Aile?" Neal said after a silent minute passed between them.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Have you ever heard a voice calling out to you?" Neal asked. "I can't completely explain it, but I have the strangest feeling like there's something I have to do. But I just don't know what. It's like there's a voice calling me, but I can't figure out what it is."

"Well can you figure out who's calling?" Aile asked.

**. . . her . . .**

Neal shook his head. "No. It isn't as much as a whisper, but like a call of some kind. It's indescribable, so I can't really explain it."

Neal continued to look out the observation deck window. All the while, that same unexplainable _something_ kept calling to him. He couldn't explain why, but he just_ knew_ he had to get to it. One way or another.

"Hey Aile," Neal said getting her attention. "What would be the best way to get out of the ship right _now_ without using the Transerver?"

Aile leaned against a wall in thought for a moment before answering. "Well I suppose the best way besides Transerver would be to jump out the cargo hold door. But that's pretty crazy. Why do you ask?"

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Onslaught**

Upon hearing that, Neals' mind was alive with thought. A good metaphor would be that it was as though a hundred bee hives were interconnected all at once and moving as a single cohesive unit. Of course that would be a very specific metahpor.

The next moment a small smirk appeared on Neal's face for a brief moment.

Before Aile could get a response, Neal had already bolted past her and was running down the hall. More importantly that he had Model E in his hands.

"Oh man! Neal's going to jump!" Aile cried as she ran after him, realizing what he intended to do. She tapped into her communicator and called Vent. "Vent! We have a situation!"

"_What is it Aile?" _Vent asked from his end of the line.

"Neal's been acting strangely all morning!" Aile cried as she rounded a corner and followed Neal. "I think he's going to jump out of the cargo hold!"

"_Nah, that's crazy. Who'd give him an idea like that?" _Vent asked. A minute later it dawned on him._ "AILE!"_

"Look that isn't important right now!" Aile said as she saw Neal jump into one of the elevators and sat the level for the bottom floor. Before she could even reach him, the door had closed and the elevator had begun its decent. "We need to stop him! If he jumps from this height he could be seriously hurt! Or worse!"

"_Okay! I'll get there as soon as you can!"_ Vent said._ "Until we can talk some sense into him, press the emergency lockdown button and seal him in."_

"Got it!" Aile said as she bolted down the next hallway and pressed a red button labeled, **EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN**.

The moment she pressed it, the entire Guardian Base fell into high alert. Sirens blared and red lights flashed. Large metal doors began to close over all the doors windows, and sections of the hallways.

At the same time on the bottom floor, Neal was running down the last hallway on his way to the cargo hold at the ship's stern.

"Those guys must really not want me to do this!" Neal said as he continued to run down the hall. As soon as he was halfway down, almost as if on cue large metal grates began to seal off the hall in yardly intervals right behind him.

"_This is getting intense!"_ Model E spoke as he floated beside Neal. _"Are you sure you really want to do this?"_

**. . . help . . .**

That invisible plea came to Neal's ears again. "I know what I have to do. Will you follow me or not?"

"_I said I'd follow you to the end and back,"_ Model E said as Neal and he came close to the end of the hall. The door was open, but an even thicker grate began to close down it slowly._ "I don't intend to go back on my word."_

Right as the final grate was about to seal them off, Neal slid underneath it like a baseball player to last base. Just as Model E was about to be separated by the thick wall, Neal reached out from under the last open inches and pulled him in right as the door closed behind.

"Man, that was close!" Neal said as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. "You okay Model E?"

"_Don't worry about me, I'm fine," _Model E said. _"More importantly how are you going to get out of the cargo hold? This area has already been placed under lock-down, and probably the only way to open them right now is by using the controls in the Bridge."_

Neal looked around the cargo hold. It was a massive steel room with the walls lined with large metal crates with various logos on them. His eyes finally landed on what he needed, the control panel for this room linked to the bridge.

"Like I said," Neal said as he ran over to the holographic control panel on the wall and booted it up, "I've been on my own fair share of adventure."

"What're you up to?" Model E asked. "Neal? Hello?"

At that moment Neal stood over the control panel, his hands a few inches above the keys, his body unmoving, his eyes closed, and his face expressionless. After a tense moment his eyes suddenly snapped open with a visible glint. His hands were suddenly a blur of motion as they moved over the keys, bending the systems to his very will.

* * *

At the same time back in the Bridge.

"Commander, Neal has been succussfully sealed off in the cargo hold," Gardenia explained as she pulled up a visual of the ship's interior. A blinking light at the bottom rear showed Neal's current position.

"Very good," Prairie said in relief. "After we get him back here, I want some answers for his sudden change in behavior."

While Tulip was monitoring the systems, a red and white sign reading **WARNING** flared across her screen. A few seconds later, several more of the same sign appeared, obstructing most of it's original contents from view. "Commander! Someone's hacking into our systems through the cargo hold!"

"Don't let him open those doors!" Prairie ordered, realizing what Neal was attempting to do. "Stop the program!"

"Its no good!" Marguerite cried as she tried in vain to get the systems back under control. "He's overridden all of our systems! We're completely locked out!"

Security footage of the cargo hold showed Neal's hands imputing commands at speeds that were considered inhuman, even for a modern-day humanoid. His arms and hands were nothing but blurs as he continued to hack the cargo bay system as though he knew it like the back of his hand.

"I've never seen coding like this before!" Tulip said as lengths of code moved through the system, overtaking all programs relating to the cargo hold. "Its as though he's able to pinpoint our system's_ exact _weak points."

"Vent, Aile, is there any way to stop him before the cargo hold is opened?" Prairie asked, hoping the two of them would have good news for her.

"Nah, I doubt we could pull it off," Vent said. "Ashe maybe, but not us."

"Commander! The latches on the cargo bay door are opening!" Gardenia said as she watched the footage, which revealed the back door to the cargo hold slowly lurching open. "We've only got a few minutes at best until they're open all the way."

"The crazy kid's going to jump!" Vent said as he ran down the hall. "Aile! Why'd you give him that bright idea?"

"I didn't know he was actually going to_ jump_!" Aile cried in response as Prairie followed behind her.

* * *

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - In the Wind**

Back in the cargo hold, Neal listened for the sounds of the latches and grates unlatching at the cargo hold door. With a slow creak, the rear door began to lurch open. The sound of rushing wind from the outside met his ears.

"That's it," Neal said to himself as he walked to the center of the room and got ready to jump. "Its now or never."

In the minute it took for the door to open a crack, the security grates back in the halls raised. At the other end of the hall, Vent, Aile, and Prairie were running desperately towards the cargo hold.

"Almost there, just a little more!" Neal said to himself as the cargo bay door lowered a third of the way down, hoping that the door lowered before the others could get to him.

"Neal! Stop this please!" Aile cried from down the hall from behind the last security grate.

_Just a little bit more_, Neal thought to himself as he looked out the corner of his eye and saw that the door was half-way opened."Sorry guys, but I really have to do this," he said as he faced them while backing towards the cargo bay door. The next moment, Vent, Aile, and Prairie all burst into the room.

"Neal! I order you to stand down this instant!" Prairie shouted.

Neal looked directly at Prairie, then gave her a two-fingered salute as the door was almost lowered all the way. "Sorry Prairie, but this is something I have to do. Hope you can forgive me for this later. Ciao." The next moment he turned and jumped out of the cargo hold as the door finally lowered completely.

"Neal!" Prairie cried as she ran to the edge, only to be pulled back by Vent and Aile. Right before she was pulled away, she swore that she saw Neal smile at her and wink before turning his body around in the dive.

"Wahooo!" Neal yelled excitedly as he spread his arms, the wind rushing through his hair and clothing as a bit of water leaked from the sides of his eyes. As the Grand Nuage disappeared into the distance behind him, he grabbed Model E and shouted, "Megamerge!"

In a flash of light Neal had transformed. As he streamlined himself like a spear down into the water, he tapped into the Interface and went to the new EX Skill section. "Here we go!" he said to himself as he tapped into the power of Fistleo's EX Skill. "Lion Blazer!"

The next moment his body was suddenly surrounded by a ball of intense crimson-orange flame. Moments later he dove straight down through the ater.

* * *

A minute later, the now furious Prairie plopped herself down in her commanders chair and looked at the monitor. Since Neal was no longer hacking the system, her Operators were able to regain control of them and get the situation under control.

"I need Neal's currnet trajectory and the geography of the surrounding area where he's estimated to land," Prairie ordered. "NOW!"

The three operators began imputing data. A minute later, a geographic map of the area that Neal had dove into appeared.

"We have the data now," Gardenia spoke. "The estimated landing zone is around three hundred feet below sea level, visibility being eighty four percent. The region is dotted by mostly inactive volcanoes, and slight signals from downed tech can be found scattered through the area."

Prairie sighed as she leaned back in her chair, lowering the brim of her hat over her eyes. "Neal. Just what are you up to?"

* * *

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Dive into Depth**

Neal had just dove three thousand feet out of the Grand Nuage and into the ocean. By utilizing the Joule-Thomson Effect, he managed to considerably reduce the force of the impact on his body upon hitting the ocean, while at the same time effectively driving him to the ocean's floor quickly.

As Neal touched down and the bubble of air around him receded, a blue lense appeared over the left side of his face, and his armor became pressurized as the seawater in his helmet drained out. He took a breath and was surprised that he was able to easily breath. The water for the most part was clear, the surf altered the sun's rays as it came down, so everything was bathed in an eerie light. The ocean floor was mostly sand and stone while large mountain-like features dotted the horizon.

"Okay Elpizo, I managed to get off the Grand Nuage safely," Neal said as he looked around. "And it seems that in my megamerged form I'm able to breath underwater, while at the same time not get crushed by the pressure being forced on me."

"_Wow. Even now, the ocean is still beautiful,"_ Model E remarked as he saw the world through Neal's eyes. Fish of various species could be seen swimming about, and various plant life could be seen growing in scattered clumps throughout the area.

Neal nodded. "Yeah. I heard that during the Maverick Wars, the ocean was no place for _any_ form of life. To tell the truth I'm surprised that so many fish species survived."

His ears perked up to a sudden wail echoing through the water. A moment later a massive shadow loomed over him. He looked up and saw the underbelly of a massive creature with large flippers on its sides, and two more on its tail. "Woah! A whale!"

"_Amazing,"_ Model E said as he took the sights in. _"I would've surely thought something like the whale would've gone extinct by now."_

"Well what can I say," Neal said. "Science may've come far, but even our best science can't match mother nature's miracles."

Before anything more could be seen or commented on, the same voice that Neal heard before met his ears. This time however it was a lot clearer, almost like whoever was calling him was standing right next to him.

**"**_**Help... me..."**_

Neal turned around and knew by instinct that the voice was coming from that direction. "Well mystery voice, I certainly hope this was worth the three thousand foot dive."

As he took a step forward, but suddenly found himself greatly hindered by the water pressure being forced down on him. While his body wasn't being crushed, it was still experiencing around seven hundred pounds of pressure.

"Hey Model E. You wouldn't happen to have something to help me move through the water would you?" Neal asked, desperately hoping Elpizo had another trick up his... uh, _equivalent _to a sleeve.

"_I think I may have something,"_ Model E said._ "Look in your Cyber Elf Screen."_

Neal activated his Interface and moved to the Cyber Elf Screen. While a sleeping Recon could be seen in one column, he also saw that the two other eggs, the green and pink one, were both shaking back and forth. Without being told, he raised a hand and tapped the green egg. "Cyber Elf: Periscope, activate."

In a flash of light, the green cyber egg transformed from a glowing egg to blue-tinted manta sporting red lenses over its eyes, hydrofoils on its fins, and a small metal plate with a periscope on its back.

"_Hey dude. Sup?"_ the blue-tinted manta spoke as it floated in front of Neal._ "The name's Periscope, an Animal-Type cyber elf."_

"Periscope, is there anything you can do to help me out?" Neal asked. "I'm at the bottom of the ocean and it's a little hard to move. I'm afraid if I don't move any faster, then I'll be down here all day. And if _that _happens, then Commander Prairie will probably throw me out the Grand Nuage _herself. _And I don't think next time there'll be an _ocean _to break my fall."

"_Hey don't worry dude,"_ Periscope spoke in a laid-back tone._ "It just so happens that workin' in water is my specialty. I'll have you moving through these waters like a fish in no time."_

Before Neal could even say thanks, Periscope suddenly turned into a blue-tinted ball of light and flew into his chest. As blue energy began to pour through the circuits in his outfit and through every inch of his being, he could feel the intended transformation occuring.

When the glowing had subsided, Neal realized that his outfit and armor had changed. "Woah. What is all this?"

"_That would be your new Undertow Form,"_ Periscope explained as he floated into Neal's field of vision on the interface. _"We have now fused to the extent that you can now move through the water like any other sea creature. While you can't swim as _freely_ as one, you can still move around like you were still on dry land."_

Neal looked himself over. The changes to his armor were mostly subtle, but in some regards they were very evident.

Jutting from the sides of his helmet were small fins, and the fact that the left side of his face was now covered in a clear dome with various green LED gauges instead of a simple lense. There were also fins on the backs of his boots, his gloves were webbed, and his trench coat clung tighter to his body. His armor was also _slightly_ more blue then it was before.

Neal took a step forward and saw that it barely felt any different then walking on dry land. "Wow, this is so cool! I never would've thought I'd be doing something like _this_."

"_Glad you like my work dude,"_ Periscope said as his body began to glow. _"I'll be watching from back here."_

Periscope's body suddenly transformed into a series of gauges which were set onto the edges of his vision. Included was a depth gauge, a horizontal geographical map, and a zoomed out topographical map of the surrounding area.

A moment later Neal noticed that the topographical map had a glowing sparkle situated a few yards from his position.

"Hey Periscope, what is that glowing sparkle?" Neal asked.

"_That would be my Treasure Scope dude,"_ Periscope said from behind the visor. _"It may not be able to find your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but it still has its uses."_

"I see," Neal said. "So it can still be used to find other things?"

Periscope nodded. _"Yep. In fact there's a Treasure Point close to you now."_

Neal looked at the Treasure Radar and found a glowing sparkle underneath a large rock outcropping. As he strode over, much like Neal Armstrong did on his first moon walk, he came up to the rock and drew the handle of his E Rapier.

"Alright, lets see if the Joule-Thomas Effect still works this far down," Neal said as he readied his weapon. In a burst of heat and bubbles, his crimson blade materialized in the water. The only difference now was that bubbles would stream from the blade to the surface constantly, partially obscructing the blade.

With a satisfied look on his face, Neal swung his sword at the rock formation in front of him. After a minute, he managed to cut through the mid-section of the rock. To his realization, he discovered that the cutting power of his sword was reduced by a factor of possibly 30% or more when used underwater. If he went up against anything heavily armored down there, the only thing he could really do is compromise its outer covering and hope the deep-sea compression finished the job _for _him.

After hacking away at large chunks of the rock for another few minutes, Neal managed to thin it down enough to the point that he could lift a thin sheet of it up. Underneath he found a rusted-over metal capsule. After slicing the hatch off, the trapped air floated up to the surface and Neal was able to reach the capsule's contents. Inside was a grey cylindrical looking item. On the bottom and sides it was grey, and down the front and top it was clear. Beneath the clear part was an orange **E**.

"What's this?" Neal asked as he held the strange device in his hands. He wasn't completely sure what it was, but all he could really tell was that it was empty.

"_Ah, that would be what you'd call a Sub Tank,"_ Model E explained. _"Very useful in your new line of work."_

"I've heard of those," Neal said, "but what's one doing in a capsule at the bottom of the ocean?"

"_Well when you stop to think about it, someone could've put this in a time capsule a really long time ago," _Model E explained,_ "then it washed into the ocean, drifted out to sea, and stayed here for a really long time until you found it."_

"Hm. I see," Neal said. He was about to walk away, but something in the capsule caught his eye in the back of the capsule. He reached in and found it nestled underneath the corner. "A card?"

He held it up to the light and immediately discovered it was made of some kind of silicon-based material. It looked like a semi-clear blue card with a black strip running along the bottom, on the center was a strange symbol that looked like a circle above a W with the letters N-A in the middle.

"Um. Model E. Do you have any idea what this is?" Neal asked.

"_Hmmm. It looks like a key card of some kind," _Model E said._ "Maybe once we get back to the Grand Nuage we can have Fleuve look it over."_

Neal nodded as he pocketed both items. The next moment something flashed across his visor.

**You acquired Sub Tank.**

**You acquired Mystery Card.**

"Model E is that really necessary?" Neal asked as the aforementioned words ran across his field of vision..

Model E huffed and made the codes disappear._ "Sheesh. I was only trying to be traditional."_

"Since when?" Neal asked once again.

Model E didn't word a response.

Neal simply shrugged his shoulders and continued on in a slow jog.

For what could be described as the next half hour, Neal continued to move through the ocean's current. With his new Undertow Form, his body sliced through the water like a hot knife through butter. All the while he took the time to observe the various forms of life that still resided in the ocean's depths.

"You know Model E," Neal said as he continued to walk, "a few days ago, I never would've thought that I'd be moon-walking on the bottom of the ocean following a mysterious voice. Then again I also thought I wouldn't have jumped out of an airship three thousand feet off the ground into the ocean without getting myself _killed _either."

"_Fate rarely calls upon us at the moment of our choosing,"_ Model E said._ "Whether if it was by fate or some other factor, you _are_ on the course to altering this world's history. Whether its for better or worse is up to you." _

Neal nodded. "Model E, we're almost there."

Through Neal's eyes, Model E looked down into a deep crevice, nestled at the bottom was a deep gash leading further down into the ocean floor.

"What do you think it is?" Neal asked.

"_If I had to guess, I'd say we're probably looking at a base built into the inside of a volcano," _Model E said._ "This area is dotted with them, however most of them are inactive now. They probably stopped about a month ago when something closed the under sea vents."_

"But what could possibly cause so many volcanoes to go dormant though?" Neal asked looking around. "As far as I know, it'd take something of _great _magnitude to do something like_ this_."

"Who knows, maybe a massive release of energy or something," Model E said.

Neal took a deep breath before looking into the bowels of the volcano. "Alright Model E. Lets go. Begin mission."

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Path to the Truth**

"_Are you ready for this?"_ Model E said. _"It isn't too late to turn back."_

Neal shook his head. "I have to do this. If I don't I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life."

"_**Please... Help me..."**_

"I'm coming, just hang on a bit longer," Neal said as he dove down into the mouth of the volcano.

As he dove headfirst, he wove between platforms in a zig-zag pattern before reaching the bottom of the first floor. He looked around and saw that the bottom was a small room, a rusted door the only unique feature.

"Okay then, lets see what this thing does," Neal said as he stepped toward the door. After a moment, he knew it wasn't going to open. "Hey Model E, you got any bright ideas?"

Model E looked at the door and found the problem._ "Well kid you know the saying. When you can't find a door-"_

Neal nodded in understanding. "You make one."

Neal brandished his sword before thrusting it through the door. With a loud gurgling sound, air rushed out from the other room and out as Neal cut a wide circular hole through the door. It wasn't too big, but just big enough that he could squeeze through.

"_Aren't you going to make the hole bigger?"_ Model E asked.

Neal shook his head. "Nah. Besides nothing short of an earthquake could jostle this place enough for that to be a concern anyway."

Model E sighed._ "Why do I feel like you just jinxed us?" _he thought to himself, keeping those thoughts isolated frome Neal's.

As Neal got a metal shaving off his sleeve, he saw that this base used to be one. Now it was completely ruined, rubble all over the place and rusting remains of mechaniloids abound. Something was keeping the whole area lit. It may have been the downed tech or the glowing stones, but at that moment it didn't really concern Neal.

"Man, this place looks dead," Neal said as he continued down the hall. After _making_ another door, he dropped down into another room, this one with two doors.

"Okay Model E, which one do I choose?" Neal asked as he looked at the two doors.

"_Either one will do,"_ Model E said.

Neal nodded. He began the process of cutting through yet another door. Several minutes later, he had made a sizeable hole to come through.

"Okay now, lets see where this leads me," Neal said as he crawled through the hole and to the other side. However, to his shock, there wasn't a floor beneath him as he fell through as the water's current pulled him down a very deep pit. He quickly flipped himself over and activated his turbines to slow his descent. He began weaving through half-broken platforms with jagged shrapnel pointing up.

"Spikes? What did this place used to be?" Neal said as he barely missed another spike.

"_Who knows,"_ Model E said._ "Be on your toes, you're about to reach the bottom floor."_

Neal nodded. He boosted his thrusters to slow his descent as he touched down. "Okay, we're probably at the bottom level by now."

Neal cut through another door and found himself in one more room. A crushed hatch was situated on the ceiling, and another door at the opposite end.

"Guess it's a good thing I chose the other door then huh?" Neal said. He began the process of cutting through the next door. This time however he took the time to cut a larger hole.

As he pushed the piece of the door out, he came upon a large cave-like room. The ceiling was almost-collapsed, and like the rest of the base there was rubble everywhere.

"Man, look at this place," Neal said as he looked around. "Looks like there's been a cave-in."

At that moment the mysterious voice from before revealed itself again. This time it was as though the speaker were right next to him.

_**. . . Herald of Model W. Help me . . .**_

Neal looked around and suddenly found what had _possibly_ been drawing him all day, two bodies half-buried in rubble. One which was male was wearing purple armor and had a skull-themed helmet with a red obstruction jutting from the top, while the other which was obviously female wore white armor and had an odd egg-shaped helmet with a red jewel on the front. The back of the skull-shaped helmet had cyan polymorphic hair, while the back of the egg-shaped helmet had light green polymorphic hair coming out of the back and front.

Model E scanned the two bodies. _"It seems these two have been severely drained of all their energy," _Model E spoke after a brief analysis._ "Quite forceably I might add."_

"But what're they doing down here?" Neal asked.

"_Who knows," _Model E said._ "But if they don't see help soon, like within the hour, their energy cores could completely shut down."_

On the visor appeared two pulse gauges. They were barely pulsing at all, and they were getting weaker by the second.

"Then what're we waiting for?" Neal asked. "Lets get these two unburied and get out of here."

A few minutes later, Neal had unburied the two bodies from the rubble and set them next to each other on their backs.

"Okay, now that they're unburied, we can finally get them out of here," Neal said as he wiped some imaginary sweat from his forehead. His attention suddenly turned to the pulse gauges and saw that the two bodies were about to flat-line within the next sixty _seconds_.

"Crap! What do I do?" Neal said panicking.

"_The cyber elf screen! Use the last cyber elf in the roster!" _Model E spoke.

Neal did as he was told and selected the last glowing cyber egg, the pink one. "Cyber Elf: Juice, activate."

In a flash of light, the pink egg transformed into another elf-like creature. This one was yellow tinted and had gold-set blue-wire wings shaped like sparks on its back, and was obviously female. She looked like a teenaged nurse with her hair tied back with lightning bolt-shaped chopsticks, and two iron-looking things in her hands connected by a twirled wire to a pack on her left hip.

_"Hey there! The name's Juice, the Nurse-Type cyber elf,"_ she spoke.

"Can you stop those two's cores from shutting down?" Neal pleaded, pointing at the two bodies.

A glint appeared in Juice's eye as she rubbed the two irons together. _"Hehe. Piece of cake. Lets juice 'em up!"_

Juice suddenly flew over the purple-armored body and rubbed the two irons together. _"Clear!"_

Neal quickly stepped back as Juice sent an electric current through the body, which caused it to arch. The next moment she flew over to the white-armored body and did the same thing. _"Clear!"_ The second body arched before settling again.

Neal looked back to the two pulse gauges and saw that they were now stable. "Thanks Juice. That was a close one."

Juice giggled. _"Sure thing. But you should really get them out of here. This isn't a permanent solution to their current condition. You should get them out of here before they flat-line on you again."_

Neal nodded as Juice flew back into his visor. After a brief rest, Neal decided he'd taken a long enough break.

"Okay, lets get these two off the ground," Neal said as he pulled the white-armored body into his arms. When he turned around to get the other body, his eyes widened as he realized it had suddenly disappeared.

"Hey! Where'd the second body go?" Neal said frantically as he looked all around the room.

"_Do you think he could've walked out the door while we weren't looking?"_ Model E asked.

Neal turned around at that comment and saw the last part of a shadow move down the hallway. At the moment Neal did so, the cave ceiling above began to rumble. Pieces of the ceiling falling onto the floor.

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Divine Hammer **

"Oh man! This isn't good!" Neal said in panic. "I can't get both of us out of here in time! Wait!"

Neal tapped the left side of his helmet. "This is Neal to Guardian Base. Do you copy?"

"_Neal! Is that you! Where the hell are you? You've had us worried sick!" _Prairie's voice rang into Neal's ear.

"Prairie this isn't the best time!" Neal shouted as he side-stepped a piece of rubble while carrying the female body to the door. "The cave ceiling is about to give and escape is getting less likely with each second. I need an escape option _now_!"

"_Okay, we have a lock on your location,"_ Prairie said. _"We'll have you back at base in no time."_

"Wait! Stop! I have someone with me!" Neal said hoping he wouldn't be transported yet.

"_What?"_ Prairie's voice rang out. _"Drop whatever it is and get out of there. We only have enough power at the moment to get one person out of there! Interference is getting worse by the second!"_

Neal looked to the unconscious girl's body. That cemented his decision right there. "Transport the girl first!" he shouted into the mic. "I'll get to the surface on my own, just make sure this girl gets to safety!"

"_Fine! Retreiving now!"_ Prairie ordered. In a bright flash of light the white-armored girl disappeared from Neal's arms. "_She should come out at the same time you do! Now run!"_ Prairie ordered as the signal suddenly cut off.

Neal quickly ran from the room and leapt through the hole he'd made. As he dropped into the previous room, he knew that the entire base was coming down around him.

"Man this is _no_t good!" Neal said as he crawled through the next hole. A piece of rubble fell over it the next moment, barely letting him by.

"_Told you you should've made those holes bigger,"_ Model E said.

Neal pointedly ignored his Biometal and began climbing back up to the surface. At that very moment it was a heated race, with Neal against the collapsing cave. As rubble fell, Neal felt less certain that he'd be able to see the light of the sun any time soon. However through his own power he persevered. He quickly wall jumped up the pit and back to the first level. The shaking had become worse as large cracks ran across the walls and ceilings.

"This is going to be close!" Neal said as he jumped through the first door and to the bottom of the deep pit he had touched down on in the beginning. As soon as he hit the ground, he looked up to see the sun's rays shining down and the ocean above. At that moment however the volcano walls began to crumble inward, heading right for him in the form of a landslide. "Uh oh," he said as the entire volcano began to pour down into the bottom right on top of him. He quickly braced his arms and tensed his legs as he prepared to be burried under a hundred tons of rubble.

Thankfully however, at the last moment the transporter pulled him out of the area in the nick of time. The next moment the hidden base was finally sealed off. This time for good.

* * *

Back at the Guardian Base, Vent, Aile, and Prairie all stood around the Transporter waiting for Neal and the other person he'd mentioned to return. As they were about to give up hope and mark Neal for lost, the transporter suddenly flared to life. After a brilliant flash of light, a water-logged Neal fell to his knees, a white-armored girl in his arms.

"Neal, is_ this_ why you jumped out of my ship?" Prairie demanded.

Neal spit out some water (after his Undertow form gave out in a small flash of light) before facing Prairie. "Prairie this isn't the time! This girl could die if we don't get her recharged immediately!"

Everyone took that moment to look at the girl he carried in his arms. As recognition flared in their eyes, they suddenly backed away and took up defensive positions.

"Neal! Do you have any idea _who_ you just brought back here?" Prairie demanded as Vent and Aile stood between her and the white-armored girl.

"That's Pandora!" Aile said. "She's one of the bad guys!"

"Look I don't care!" Neal said, shocking everyone with the boldness of his statement. "I can't stand by and let any more people die! At least not while I'm able to _prevent _it!"

Everyone stood in silence for a few moments. Admittedly, they couldn't just let anyone die on them either, even if they were the bad guys.

Prairie sighed. "Very well then, we'll take her to Fleuve."

Neal sighed as he fell to his knees, using all his strength to keep the white-armored girl now known as Pandora from hitting the floor.

"But!" Prairie said turning back to Neal, "she's_ your _responsibility. If she attacks any of my troops, you'd better be ready to take her down!"

Neal looked at Prairie, then to the unconscious girl he carried in his arms. "Very well."

* * *

A few minutes later, Neal, Fleuve, Prairie, Vent, and Aile all stood in Fleuve's lab. At that moment Pandora was laying in a glass tube being recharged in the hopes that her condition would be stabilized. So far her pulse was being monitored, and it remained stable. For the time being anyway. At the same time, Neal rested on a nearby bench to recover his lost energy. Barely escaping an undersea base with your life can be pretty exhausting.

"You said her name was Pandora," Neal repeated as he took a seat by the wall of the lab, resting from his ordeal as best he could. "I'm guessing she's a Mega Man too."

Vent nodded. "Yeah. She and her brother are different from the others though. They fight in the Game of Destiny for the purpose of spurring the other Mega Men forward. Later we learned they really did it so that they can destroy everything in this world related to the Game of Destiny."

"Neal, how could you bring someone so _dangerous _back here?" Aile demanded. She was willing to accept some of the new Mega Man's faults, but something like this was just too much.

"I didn't _know_ she was so dangerous," Neal responded back, averting his gaze. "All I knew was that somehow she was calling out to me. That's why I jumped, to answer the distress signal she was somehow emitting. I couldn't just leave her down there to die! And besides! If I'd shown up any _later_, her energy core would've been exhausted_ completely!_"

Prairie sighed as Aile backed down. At the same time Pandora then began to stir inside her capsule.

Neal turned around and faced her as he walked up to the side of the tank. "Mornin' sleepy head. How was your nap?"

Pandora opened her eyes and stared at Neal's cerulean with her own crimson. "You are... the one who... saved me?" she asked in a quiet voice, kinda like she was expecting someone else.

Neal leaned against the nearby wall, favoring his left leg. "I am. Hey Fleuve, how is she?"

A sheet of data printed out of Fleuve's computer with the completed analysis. "It doesn't look too good, I can tell you that much."

Neal sighed, but knew he had to face the truth eventually. "Don't mince words. I always hate it when people do that, so just give it to me straight."

"Alright," Fleuve said as he looked over the report again. "It seems that because the large amount of energy was drained from her body so forcefully, it has now become too frail to operate correctly in its current state," Fleuve explained. "The only way we can help her is if the un-megamerges and gets some rest."

Pandora looked away from everyone. "Then you may as well finish me off now. There's no hope for me anyway."

"Pandora, I'm not going to kill you!" Neal said as he placed his hands on the side of the capsule, his voice faltering in the middle of his sentence.

"What other choice of action is there?" Pandora asked weakly as she looked up at him. "The Biometal Model W has been_ fused _into my body. It cannot be removed. There's nothing left in this world for me except the cold embrace of death."

For what felt like forever no one said anything. Death wasn't a very well-taken word around there after all. Then Neal broke the silence.

"Pandora, you said the Biometal was fused to your body right?"

Pandora weakly nodded. "That is correct. I can never get back to my old body, and I am completely incapable of any movement. There's no point in me living this way."

"What if I told you I might be able to separate the Biometal Model W from your body?" Neal said, an element of resolve in his voice as he looked into Pandora's eyes.

Everyone, especially Pandora, looked at him with shock upon that statement.

"How can you say things like that? It isn't possible," Pandora said.

Neal looked at Model E when it floated out of his pocket. "Model E, you said before that you took over a Model W and reconfigured it. Can't you just do the same thing for _Pandora's_ biometal?"

"_I'm not sure," _Model E said regretfully._ "I was only able to do it because I took it over from the_ inside_. Now that I'm rooted in your biometal, the only chance you'd have is if you gathered the energy from Pandora's body and removed the biometal _manually_."_

Neal sighed as he slumped his shoulders. "Very well then..."

At that moment, Pandora deeply regretted getting her hopes up for freedom, and wanted nothing more then to cease to exist.

"I'll do it," Neal finished, finished as he took Model E out of the air.

Everyone's eyes, especially Pandora's, widened as Neal said that.

"What?" Fleuve asked. "Are you insane!"

"I said I'll do it," Neal repeated. "If the only way to save Pandora is by removing her biometal, then I'll do it."

"Hold on Neal! Be reasonable!" Fleuve pleaded as he tried to take Neal's biometal from his hands, only for it to be moved out of reach. "I've run scans on her body, and I've determined that the backlash of the interrupted energy flow could damage your _own_ body. If you failed, you'd be trapped in your megamerged state just like_ she _is."

At that statement everyone's eyes widened, especially Pandora's.

"Look, there isn't any other choice," Neal said as his grip tightened around Model E. "If I can't save _one_ girl right in front of me, then what hope do I have of saving the whole _world_ around me."

"That's different!" Prairie shouted trying to talk some sense into him. "Those are two different things entirely!"

"But they aren't _exclusive_ to one another either!" Neal cut off as he closed his eyes in concentration. "Pandora... Do you wish to be free from the Model W?"

Pandora looked up at the boy who had saved her before. "That... I do. But... not if it means you'd lose your own freedom for my sake. I probably wouldn't be able to live with myself if I brought you into my own hell."

Neal looked to Pandora and gave her a toothy grin. "Well then I just won't have to fail now will I?"

"W-W-What are you saying?" Fleuve said flabbergasted.

Prairie sighed again as she knew what was about to happen. "You won't change your mind, will you?"

Neal shook his head. "No, I won't."

Prairie sighed. "Very well. Fleuve, get Pandora out of the tank. We're going to separate her from her biometal one way or another."

Fleuve and everyone else didn't know what to say, but eventually agreed.

"Very well then," Fleuve said as he walked over the tank's control panel. "Now opening the tank."

As the glass on the tank folded down, the rig thing tilted forward. Not so much that Pandora fell out, but enough that she was remotely vertical.

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Destiny**

"Neal..." Pandora spoke weakly as she looked at the cerulean-eyed boy. "Why... Why are you going this far for me? You don't even know me."

"Because," Neal said as he looked into her eyes, "I don't need a reason to help people. If we were in opposite positions, I know I'd want you to do the same for me."

Upon hearing those words, Pandora's mind began to race. _Maybe I'll finally be free. After so long._

Neal took Model E in his hands and intoned, "Megamerge!"

In a flash of light Neal appeared in his megamerged form. As he raised his right hand and gripped his wrist with his left, pink energy began to crackle forming an aura of light.

"Are you ready for this?" Neal asked as he reared his arm back, the aura on his hand intensifying. "This is probably going to hurt once it starts."

"Try.. and be gentle okay," Pandora whispered as she braced herself.

While Vent and Fleuve got nosebleeds from the implications of how that sounded, Aile and Prairie smacked the two guys across the backs of the head for _thinking _such things at such an inappropriate time.

Neal thrust his hand forward into Pandora's chest, as soon as his hands got within an inch, purple lightning began to pour out of Pandora's body striking Neal and pushing him back.

"RRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Neal shouted as he forced himself forward. The lightning continued to chip away at his armor as he attempted to remove the very Biometal that was forcing him back.

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Pandora cried as Neal's hand suddenly broke through the lightning barrier and entered her chest, right where the Biometal's core energy was fused to her body.

"COME... ON... ALMOST... THERE!" Neal roared as his hands took hold of the Bio-energy inside Pandora's body and began to gather it into a single point.

"EYAAAAAAAAH!" was the last thing that could be heard as a blinding light suddenly filled the room.

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Just to be clear, Neal's hand isn't entering Pandora's chest in the traditional sense. Its kinda like how Rogue from Ryuusei no RockMan used that one technique against RockMan where he send his hand through his chest (phasing through like a ghost), before throwing him against a wall.**

**Also, I've made use of the Joule-Thomson Effect in this chapter because it a physical principle that I think can apply very realistically to the ZX series. I will leave a brief explanation below. Whether or not you read it is up to you.**

**WARNING. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO LEARN, LEAVE THIS CHAPTER NOW.**

**In essence, what the Thomas-Joule Effect does is that when a very hot object is placed in a cooler liquid, or vice-versa where a very cold object is brought into contact with a very warm liquid, a bubble or miniature-atmosphere is formed around the object. This principal applies to most beam and fire-type weapons because of the sudden introduction of an intense heat source into a liquid environment.**

**Neal used the flames emitted by his Lion Blazer EX Skill to greatly reduce the force of the impact when his body hits the water, and also used the created air bubble around him to bring himself to the ocean floor much faster then if he were simply "falling".**

**P.S. ****The cyber elves Periscope and Juice are characters of my creation, and in a sense are under my ownership.**

**The height and depth figures used are rough estimates based on data I collected myself, so cannot be COMPLETELY accurate. So don't hold it against me if they aren't. **

**The following is something reminiscent to a "Deleted Scene". The reason it wasn't included in the final draft was because it would've unnecessarily interrupted the flow of the story, however I didn't want to take away from Neal's brilliance, so I've included it below for you to read, just so you can get a glimpse at the kind of mind Neal has. Whether you read it or not is up to you, so anyway, here it is. **

**WARNING! IF YOU ARE NOT PROFICIENT AT MATH, DO NOT READ!**

* * *

**DELETED SCENE**

Upon hearing that, Neals' mind was alive with thought. A good metaphor would be that it was as though a hundred bee hives were interconnected all at once and were working toward a single directive (goal).

_Hmm. Out the cargo hold huh? Lets see, this will take a lot of math if I plan to execute this safely. I'll need to take the ship's current altitude into account, the probable depth of the ocean below, and the fact that I intend to _jump _into the ocean._

_Now lets see, I'll have to take terminal velocity and acceleration due to gravity..._

_Acceleration due to gravity is nine point eight (9.8) meters per-second per-second. In feet that measures up to about three hundred thirteen point six feet (313.6). If we're three thousand feet up, then it should take about sixteen point four one six six six two five seconds (16.4166625) to hit the water._

_Now for terminal velocity. I take the square route of my own mass (around 150 pounds) times acceleration due to gravity (9.8) and multiply it by two. Then I take the density of the air (which is probably 1.204 kg/m3 since the air temperature outside is around sixty eight degrees fahrenheit), multiply it by my own projected area (which would be about two and a quarter square feet when diving), then multiply all of that together with my body's drag coefficient (which would be about 1.3)._

_Now... If I take the numerator which should be about two thousand nine hundred forty (2940), then divide it by the denominator which should be around three point five two one seven (3.5217), that should leave me with about eight hundred point eight two four zero nine zero six (834.8240906). Then I find its square route and get... about twenty eight miles per hour of terminal velocity (Vt = 28 mph)._

_Now if I take my ten-second fall into consideration, then is should reach my terminal velocity about halfway through. At that point it'll be safest to megamerge since by body won't be able to accelerate any more from the force of gravity._

_Now... all that's left if for me to calculate my approach for when I'm going to the water. I estimate the ocean depth at about three hundred feet, and from what I've learned since I possess biometal my body should become heavily resistant to water pressure when I'm megamerged. _

_Let me think. The average pounds per square inch is about one pound for each two point three one feet below (2.31). Since I intend to go about three hundred feet down, at average my body should be under around a hundred thirty (130) pounds of pressure._

_Hmmm. This may be a bit more then I bargained for, but I have to know what that voice is coming from. Plus... I always did want to go skydiving. Although since I don't want my skull to meet my pelvis, I'll probably have to use my Lion Blazer EX Skill to punch through the water's surface, since its either that or use my head to do it. _

The next moment a small smirk appeared on Neal's face for a brief moment.

**DELETED SCENE END**

* * *

**Well I hope you enjoyed my first "Deleted Scene" (if you read it at all). There won't be one of these for every chapter, and as I said, the reason it was separated from the story in the first place was because it would interrupt the flow of the story. I wouldn't want to build up to action, go through a bunch of "non-actiony" math stuff, then throw you into the action with no buildup.**

**For those of you who couldn't wrap your mind around it, THIS is essentially what was going through Neal's head.**

**Terminal Velocity = The Square Route of two times the mass of the falling object times the acceleration rate due to gravity, divided by the density of the air times the projected area of the object times the drag coefficient.**

**Mathematically that would be...**

**Vt = Square Route of (2(150.9.8)/1.204x2.25x1.204)**

**Vt = Square Route of (2940/3.5217)**

**Vt = Square Route of 834.8240906**

**Vt = 28.893326 mph**

**Vt = Terminal Velocity**

**If there are any errors in my math, then that's just the factor of "human error".**

* * *

**Author's Notes: ********Starboard is "ship talk" for "Right". **"**Humanoid" is the specific term used for humans that have had cybernetic enhancements. i.e. Ashe, Vent, Aile, most "human" characters.**


	9. A Brother's Rage

**MegaMan ZX Soundtrack - Awake**

Pandora weakly opened her eyes. _Where am I? _she thought. Then it suddenly came back to her, that pained look on his face as Neal tried to separate her from the Model W.

"Am I really alive?" she asked herself. Right now all she could see was white, but as she turned her head, she realized that she was in a bed of some sort and that she was only staring at a white ceiling. She slowly lifted herself out of bed and turned to her left. As her bare feet touched the floor, a chill was sent down her spine.

"This feeling... I remember it... from a long time ago..." Pandora said to herself as she looked down at her feet. Her eyes widened as she realized she could feel it now. "Does that mean..."

She weakly walked over to the mirror and was shocked.

"He... He really did it..." she said utterly amazed. For the first time in a very long time, tears of joy streamed down her face. She was now back in her old outfit, which was a tight-fitting black body suit head to toe, a white blouse with blue sides and shoulders, a gold-lined collar, and gold bands on her arms. Her green hair fell loosely down her back and curled around her face. Her shoes were set on the floor next to the bed.

"I never thought... I'd see the day," Pandora said as she looked herself over in the mirror to make sure this was all real.

"Turn down the volume I'm sleeping," a tired voice yawned from behind her.

Pandora turned around and saw Neal sleeping in the next bed over. The only difference now was that he had bandages around his head, and probably elsewhere around his body.

"Neal... Is that you?" Pandora asked.

Neal yawned and got up. "Yeah, its me. You sleep well?"

Pandora walked over to Neal, but halfway through she ended up falling over.

"Pandora!" Neal cried as he leapt out of bed just in the nick of time and picked her up, "Are you okay?"

Pandora looked up at him into his cerulean blue eyes. Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over her, and her cheeks became bright red.

"Do you have a fever?" Neal asked noticing Pandora's face turning red. "You're looking a bit red."

Pandora turned away from Neal. _What is this strange feeling washing over me?_

"C'mon. Lets get you back in bed," Neal said as he lifted Pandora from the floor and put her back in her bed. "You're still a bit weak, so for now you should just rest."

As Neal pulled the covers up to her chest, Pandora asked, "Neal, why are their bandages around your head?"

Neal looked up and laughed a bit. "Well..."

**MINI-FLASHBACK**

"COME... ON... ALMOST... THERE!" Neal roared as his hands took hold of the Bio-energy inside Pandora's body and began to gather it into a single point.

Right as Neal's grip tightened, the armor on Pandora's outer extremities began to peel away. However as the peeling reached her wrists and ankles, the peeled armor began to force itself back onto Pandora's body in an attempt to keep her bound to it.

"Neal! Stop this!" Vent yelled into the wind as he tried to not get pushed back. "The backlash will trap you in you megamerged state too!"

Neal grit his teeth as the lightning continued to pound his body. His helmet was suddenly blown off his head by a lashing tendril, and blood began pouring out of his ears and the sides of his mouth. "No! I've come too far to give up! I ain't gonna quit!" His grip tightened as he began to force the energy to converge in the palm of his hand with greater force. "NO MATTER WHAT!"

Before the armor could reclaim Pandora's body, it suddenly ripped off up to the elbows and thighs, and continued to the chest where Neal's hand was thrust into.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Pandora screamed as her helmet began to fracture. The next moment it shattered causing her hair to fly out behind her in all directions.

The armor on Neal's arms took the full brunt of the next dark lightning attacks and finally shattered. As they dark tendrils gnashed at his arms, blood began to pour out onto the floor.

"Damn! This thing's putting up a pretty good fight!" Neal roared as the armor up to his shoulders blasted away. Just as the dark lightning was about to pierce his heart, he put everything he had into that last pull.

As soon as it was separated, Neal was thrown back by the sheer force of the effort and slammed into the wall behind him, leaving a large dent in his wake.

Neal's beaten body lay nestled in a pocket of steel, his arms, face, and shoulders were bleeding. In his hands, he held the now separated Model W, its dark energy receding now that it didn't have a host.

"Hehe... told you... I could do it," Neal told the others before slipping into unconsciousness, the Model W slipping from his hand onto the floor with a clunk.

**MINI-FLASHBACK END**

"As it turned out, being thrown back gave me a bit of a concussion," Neal explained as he pointed to the bandages around his head. "Everything else healed relatively quickly thanks to Rose's treatment. Although now a few details from yesterday are a bit of a blur."

"Oh no. Neal are you okay?" Pandora asked, concern in her voice.

Neal laughed a bit as he sat down on the edge of Pandora's bed. "Yeah, I'm fine. It'll take more then some hunk of metal to kill me. Hehe... he..."

Neal's eyes suddenly closed and he lost consciousness. As his unconscious body fell on the bed next to her, Pandora's face lit up.

_I never realized how cute he was_, she thought to herself. She then shook her head. "Wait a minute, what are these feelings I'm experiencing? I've only _just_ met him."

Pandora looked over to Neal's sleeping face. "Well... I guess I should say thank you. So... Thank you."

She leaned over and kissed Neal on the cheek. Her face instantly lit up and she jerked away from him. "Eep! Why'd I just do that?"

Before she could get an answer, Neal's body fell over the side of the bed and landed on the floor face-first with a loud thud.

"Oops," Pandora said. Before she could reach down to help him up, she started to feel very tired, and she too fell asleep.

* * *

A while later, Pandora awoke. "Was that all a dream?" she asked herself as she sat up. Suddenly remembering what happened before, she looked over the edge of her bed to find that Neal wasn't on the floor. She looked across the room and found him sleeping soundly in his bed.

She sighed in relief. "Phew. Thank goodness he's okay."

She looked over to the set of drawers between their beds. On them she saw an oddly-shaped biometal, and in a blue sphere next to it was the Model W that used to be inside of her.

"No! Keep that thing away from me!" Pandora cried as the Model W's dark energy flared in her direction.

"_Do not be alarmed. That Biometal cannot hurt you anymore," _a calm voice said from out of nowhere.

Pandora looked around the room trying to find the source of the voice. "Who said that?"

The next moment, the oddly-shaped Biometal floated off of the drawers and stopped next to her bedside. "_Hello Pandora. You gave us all quite a scare,"_ the floating Biometal spoke.

"Who are you?" Pandora asked.

_"I am Biometal Model E,"_ it spoke. _"In case you didn't already know, I am Neal's Biometal."_

Pandora yawned as she felt her head fall back onto the pillow. "I must be more tired then I thought."

_"Yeah, well it'll take a while for you to regain some of your own energy," _Model E said. _"That Biometal did a number on you being fused for so long."_

Prarie looked at the contained Model W with an deep irritation. "This feeling... Is it... anger?"

_"It would seem so,"_ Model E said as he looked at the Model W (which was currently sealed in a blue glass-like bubble) with a hint of distaste. _"Of course the fact that you can't remember your own emotions is understandable. That Biometal siphoned all the emotion out of you after all, and directed all of your energy into power."_

Pandora looked out the window. "How did Neal even know to save me?"

_"I'm not completely sure, and the only guess I have is in theory," _Model E said. _"Since this shell I'm in used to be a Biometal Model W, it may be that your biometal was resonating with mine, or me for that matter, and that since Neal was linked to it he was able to hear it as well."_

Pandora looked to the sleeping teen who saved her. "Wait a minute... Where's my brother?"

_"I'm not sure," _Model E said. _"The only thing I can guess is that he woke up on his own and left the area. He probably went to get recharged before his energy died out on him."_

Pandora looked to the wall and saw the tattered remains of a black trench coat. "What happened to his coat?"

_"Well, when I megamerge with Neal, I have to exert my influence over whatever material is present on his body," _Model E explained. _"When your Biometal lashed out at Neal, it blasted the armor on his arms and shoulders away. The helmet I can replace, but I can't reconstruct the material for the armored trench coat."_

"I see..." Pandora said. "And the bubble seals Model W away?"

Model E nodded. _"Yes. Fleuve theorizes that the Model W may still hold some kind of consciousness, and without a host its energy is beginning to fade. Since it may try to fuse itself to you again, Fleuve and I sealed it off in an energy-draining sphere. As long as it stays there, it shouldn't be able to affect you. At least not as long as you don't break it."_

"What would happen if it were to fuse to me again?" Pandora asked.

_"Well, when we separated it from you, it took a heavy toll on your body," _Model E said. _"Your body was nearly totaled after the Biometal was removed, and you barely made it."_

Pandora flexed her fingers and stretched her legs. "But what would happen to me if I were to be fused to it again?"

_"In the worst case scenario," _Model E spoke, _"trying to remove the Biometal a second time would destroy your body completely. In essence, you wouldn't survive another attempt."_

Pandora gasped, and she began to inch away from the Model W.

_"But don't worry," _Model E said._ "As long as you stay far away from the Biometal until we can find a way to completely destroy it, then you should be fine."_

"I see," Pandora said.

At that moment, Neal began to stir. With some effort he woke up and got to the floor. "Man, what happened?" he asked as he put his shoes on.

"I don't completely remember," Pandora said.

Neal walked over to the wall and put on the remains of his trench coat. "I'm going to take a walk. Model E, stay here and watch Pandora. She's still too weak to move about on her own."

_"Got it," _Model E said.

Pandora was about to go to sleep, but suddenly a growling noise issued from her body. A moment later, the same sound issued from _Neal's_ body.

"Hehe. Well, I guess we're _both_ a bit hungry," Neal said as he walked over to Pandora's bed. "It makes sense since your body hasn't had anything to_ eat _in a long time. And I guess it _has _been a while since_ I've_ eaten as well."

Pandora tried to lift herself up, but found she was too drained to move.

"Don't worry," Neal said as he pulled the covers up to her chest again, "I'll go to the cafeteria and get us both some food. It'll do us some good." He opened the door and looked back to Model E. "Model E, would you mind putting Pandora's bedside tray in its upright position before I get back?"

_"That'll be kind of hard since I don't have any _hands_,"_ Model E said as Neal left the room.

As Neal headed to the cafeteria, he suddenly remembered something. He pulled out the Sub Tank and the mysterious card from his pocket.

"Ah, I just remembered that I need to get these to Fleuve," Neal remembered as he looked his bounties of the sea over. "Wait a minute..."

Neal looked at the mysterious card more closely. His eyes widened in realization. "Hold on. N-A. Could that be short for Neo Arcadia?"

After a minute of deep musing, Neal pocketed his two trophies and headed back to the cafeteria. "Oh well. I can get these to him later. Right now Pandora's health comes first."

* * *

Neal walked into the cafeteria and quickly got two sets of breakfas with extra servings, as he was about to leave, Vent and Aile set him down at one of the tables and began to bombard him with questions.

"Neal are you okay?" Aile asked.

"I'm surprised you're _up _this early," Vent said. "How do you keep doing it?"

"You're not hurt anywhere are you?" Aile asked as she looked over the bandages covering his head. "It'd be very bad if you hurt yourself too soon."

"So how's our little _patient _doing?" Vent asked casually.

"Oh that's right, how's Pandora?" Aile asked again.

"I still can't believe everything that happened yesterday," Vent said remembering everything that happened yesterday. "What drove you to jump out of the back of the ship?"

"We'll need to make sure everything's okay," Aile added. "Neal, would you please-"

The next moment Neal covered Vent and Aile's mouths with his hands and looked them in the eye. "Could you not give me the third-degree now? I need to get this food into mine and Pandora's stomaches before we both pass out. _Again_."

Suddenly a loud crashing sound came from the top of the ship, startling everyone into instinctively grabbing their weapons.

"It sounds like something's happening on the roof," Vent said.

"Come on Neal! Lets go!" she said as she followed Vent out of the cafeteria and into the elevator.

"Fuck," Neal cursed to himself as he shoved a sausage into his mouth before following after them. "Can't I even have a normal _breakfast _without having to fight something."

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Cannon Ball-Hard Revenge**

Vent, Aile, and Neal all rushed out of the hangar atop the Guardian Base and ran out onto the roof. Upon exit their eyes widened in shock at the visage of the figure that stood over the downed Guardians that had been guarding the roof. His armor was fractured in several places and extremely worn. The only thing that wasn't delapidated-looking was the crazed look in his eyes as he looked right at them.

"Hey guys. You miss me?" the figure cackled. His armor was purple and red, and his helmet had a skull motif to it. In his hands he carried a scythe larger then himself. Neal remembered this figure, but the concussion he got made some of his previous memories of that day a little blurrier than others.

"Prometheus!" Vent and Aile blurted out as they reached for their Biometal.

"You? You're the one from that underwater base aren't you?" Neal asked, recognizing the figure from his previous day's adventure more definitely.

"That's right human _scum_," Prometheus spat, directing his tone towards _Neal _more then he did to the others_. "_Now would you be so kind as to tell me where my dear sister Pandora is, hmm?"

Neal's eyes narrowed upon seeing the downed Guardians all over the roof. All had slash marks across their chests, arms, and legs, obviously from Prometheus' giant scythe. "Why did you attack the Guardians on the roof? They never did anything to you."

"_Why_? Because I _felt _like it!" Prometheus cackled. "Why shouldn't I when there's no one around to _stop_ me?"

"I'll make you pay for this," Neal said he tore the bandages from his head and cast them to the wind. "Megamerge!"

In a flash of light Neal had megamerged, except now the armored trench coat up to his shoulders was missing. "Lets see how you strong you are against the newest Mega Man. The Mega Man of Heart."

"_Heart_?" Prometheus asked. "Really? That's rich! Ahahahahahahaha!"

Neal's eyes narrowed and his blood began to boil. "What's so funny?"

"The very_ idea _that you believe you're a _real_ Mega Man!" Prometheus cackled. "You're no Mega Man! You're just some chump who got lucky when he found a Biometal by _mistake_!"

Neal brandished his sword and prepared to fight. "Oh yeah? Well we'll just see about that." _Why is the armor up to my shoulders gone? Wait a minute... Damn!_

"Man, you're pathetic!" Prometheus spat. "A little sword and a shredded jacket! What kind of weak fool do you take me for?"

Neal readied his sword as Vent and Aile readied their weapons. Prometheus gripped his scythe as the three of them charged.

* * *

At the same time, Pandora could hear everything that was going on up above. The sounds of fighting and people's cries filled the air as well."Neal... Prometheus..." she said to herself as she forced herself up.

As Neal's cries of pain met her ears, she felt a certain emptiness in her heart. "This feeling... Is it... sadness?" _Why do I feel this way? she_ asked herself. _Prometheus is my brother after all. But... Neal risked his life, and his _freedom_, to save me. He's fighting for my sake, and he's getting hurt because of me. What am I supposed to do? I could megamerge again... but..._

Pandora looked over to the sealed Biometal. Its dark energies beginning to fade, but still prevalent.

"_trying to remove the Biometal a _second_ time would completely destroy your body. In essence, you wouldn't survive another attempt."_

Pandora weakly took the sphere in her hands and looked at the Biometal.

"Neal... He nearly died trying to save me," Pandora said to herself. "If I don't help him then he'll die for sure. But if I do, then I'm as good as dead in the end."

As that empty feeling in her heart grew, tears began to fill her eyes.

"Please... Someone... I don't know what to do," she said as a single tear fell through the sphere and struck the Biometal. "Please... Someone help me..."

Suddenly, the dark-colored Biometal in the sphere began to glow white. She watched in curiosity as the Biometal began to twitch all around the sphere, then shake violently as rays of light began to shoot through it.

"What's happening?" Pandora said as the biometal's glow began to fill the room in an ethereal glow.

* * *

Back atop the roof of the Guardian Base.

In his rage, Prometheus was somehow able to bring Vent, Aile and Neal to their knees. In his weakened state, Neal was the first to go down, bringing need for Aile to guard him while Vent fought Prometheus, thus dividing their forces. Vent put up a good fight, but he wasn't able to hold off long enough against Prometheus in his crazed state and was eventually knocked over by a brutal attack to the chest with the end of Prometheus' scythe. Aile, being more adept at buster combat didn't fare any better against Prometheus as his brutal close-quarters combat eventually brought her to her knees as well.

At that very moment, Vent and Aile could only watch as Prometheus stood over Neal's defeated form.

"See? What'd I tell you?" Prometheus asked as he stood over Neal's defeated form. "You're no Mega Man. Just a weak human who got lucky."

Neal spit up a wad of blood. "Pheh. You're lucky you caught me on such a bad day, otherwise I'd kick your butt."

"_You_, defeat _me_? Ha! The very notion is_ laughable_!" Prometheus spat as he stomped on Neal's chest, knocking the wind right out of him. "All of your attacks were pathetic! They didn't even scratch me!"

Neal scowled as he tried to force himself up, only for Prometheus to knock the wind out of his lungs again with a powerful stomp to the chest.

"Humans like you are the very symbol of the human race!" Prometheus spat as he continued to stomp Neal into the deck. "You're frail, pathetic, WEAK! I could utterly destroy you in a single blow!"

Neal coughed out more blood as he tried to think of a way to get out of this. _Damn this isn't good! Why am I losing so badly?_

"_Neal, you're still too weak from yesterday," _Model E said.

_Well I didn't _feel _any weaker. And what _really_ happened to my armor back there?_

"_Your original trench coat was shredded to pieces during your fight against the Model W. There wasn't any composite material left for me to built the armor up upon."_

_Oh this is just _perfect_! _Neal groaned to himself. _Two weeks into this and I'm _already _about to die!_

"Any last words whelp?" Prometheus asked as he applied more pressure to Neal's chest.

Before he could think of anything, another voice rang out. "Prometheus! Take your foot off of him right now!"

Neal tried to piece together who it was. After a moment he came to a conclusion. _Pandora?_

Prometheus turned to the hangar, readying himself to eliminate whoever came out. When the figure stepped out into the light, his eyes widened in shock. "Pandora!"

Pandora stood defiantly with her hands on her hips. "Prometheus! Stop this senseless violence!"

"Pandora? What happened to you? Where's Model W?" Prometheus demanded as he looked at Pandora's weakened form with disgust.

"The one you're _standing _on was kind enough to remove it from my body," Pandora answered back.

"Oh so this piece of trash took it from you _did_ he?" Prometheus spat as he grabbed Neal by the front of his shirt and brought him to eye-level. "Well no matter. I'll have him talking in nothin' flat. He'll tell me where it is with his last _breath _if he has to."

"He did not _take _Model W from me," Pandora said with a level tone. "I asked him to remove it of my own volition."

Upon hearing that statement, Prometheus dropped Neal's body to the ground with a thud. "Huh?"

"I was completely lifeless with Model W attached to me," Pandora explained. "Thanks to him I'm now free."

Prometheus' face changed from one of shock to one of sheer rage. He suddenly placed his foot right above Neal's throat with the intent to suffocate him.

Pandora's eyes narrowed as she faced her brother. "If you do not take your foot off of my friend's throat this _instant_, then I will have to _make _you."

Prometheus cackled as he stood over Neal's beaten body. "Ah hahahahahaha! _Friend_? Really? And just what can _you _do now? Like you said, Model W isn't here any more, so what can you possibly do against _me_?"

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Determined Eyes**

"_This_!" Pandora said as she reached behind her and took something from behind her and held it out in front of her. It looked like a diamond-shaped emblem, covered in an ethereal silver glow.

"What! What is that thing!" Prometheus demanded as he stared at Pandora's new biometal, hate evident in his eyes.

"It is the power that I will use to protect my new friends," Pandora spoke as she raised her Biometal to the air above her. "Mega Merge!"

"_Biolink established. R.O.C.K. System, activated."_

Suddenly a giant rainbow-colored pillar erupted from atop the Guardian Base.

"Woah. What is that?" Vent asked as the rainbow-colored pillar turned silver before dissipating.

The light finally cleared, and Pandora stood in her new megamerged form. This one was different however then from before. Instead of white armor, she now wore a silver-armored robe that stopped at her ankles and elbows. The robe had red, yellow, and light blue designs on the edges. Underneath the robe she wore her black skin-tight suit, one her wrists she wore gold and silver gauntlets while she wore elegant stiletto shoes of the same color scheme. Her helmet was no longer egg-shaped, but now had a clear red visor in front of her eyes and nose and was curved around her face. On the sides were wing-like ornamentations as her hair blew behind her in the wind. Around her chest was a circle-shaped gold-set emblem with a red jewel in the center.

"What! What is this?" Prometheus demanded upon the sudden appearance of this new megamerged form..

Pandora's eyes opened as she faced her brother. "This is a power which does not rely on _darkness_, but by _light_. Neal has given me my freedom, and I know he can give it to you too."

Prometheus spat. "Power? Ha! What a sham! This worthless_ filth_ has obviously corrupted your mind in an attempt to turn you against me!" He gripped his scythe and swung it above his head and poised himself to deliver the death blow. "Once I eliminate the boy, you'll be seeing things _my_ way!"

"Not... likely!" Neal shouted as he grabbed Prometheus' foot and twisted it, forcing him to the ground while he made his escape as best he could, crawling on his hands and knees.

"Damn you! You haven't escaped me yet!" Prometheus roared as he prepared to strike Neal.

"Your opponent is me!" Pandora said, catching Prometheus off guard as she stood between him and Neal with her arms spread.

"_You_, my opponent? Ha! Of all the times we've faced each other, you've _never_ beaten me!" Prometheus cackled. "Not even_ once_!"

Pandora smiled. "While that may be true, this time is different. Now I'm fighting for someone who is precious to me." She placed her hands before her and summoned her weapon in a flash of light. It was a silver and gold version of her previous staff, except with a more slender head. Red, yellow, and light blue energy circling around the head and flowing down to the end like a river.

"Fine then! If you're not _with_ me, then you're _against_ me!" Prometheus roared as he charged at Pandora, his scythe raised to kill.

Pandora responded by holding her staff in a horizontal block, holding him at bay before letting herself fall backwards and threw Prometheus onto the deck.

"Damn it!" Prometheus cursed as his armor cracked under the strain of the fight. "This armor is shit!"

"Ice Head!" Pandora shouted as she spun her staff over her head before slamming the head into the ground. The next moment a large sheet of ice spread out from where the head of the staff impacted and covered Prometheus' left arm and leg after it spread out across the deck.

"Grr! I'm not going to lose to some stupid_ ice_!" Prometheus cursed as he repetitively stabbed his scythe into the ice, trying to dislodge it.

"Thunder Head!" Pandora shouted as she held her staff above her head, then turned it on Prometheus. The next moment an arrow-shaped ball of electricity arced off her staff and nailed Prometheus in the chest, dislodging him from the ice and sending him into the wall of the hangar.

"Where did all this strength _come_ from!" Prometheus demanded as he got back to his feet, electricity jumping through his armor with every movement.

"You want to know where it came from?" Pandora asked as she slammed the back end of her stuff onto the deck and glared at Prometheus. "It came from _him_," she said, pointing the tip of her staff to Neal. "He freed me from my own personal hell. And from your own actions, it's clear _you_ won't accept this help."

"So what're you going to do?" Prometheus demanded, his glare acting as a distraction as he inched his hand to his scythe. "Do you really have it in you to kill your own brother?"

Pandora narrowed her eyes as she saw Prometheus grip his scythe before lunging at her. "Get off of this ship."

As Prometheus brought his scythe down onto Pandora, she immediately tapped her staff onto his chest and intoned, "Fire Head."

The next moment a compressed explosive force drove Prometheus away from the Grand Nuage and into the distance. A moment later a small maverick airship appeared above the cloudline, Promethus' body in a mini-crater on its deck, a dozen pantheons around him before the ship flew off into the distance.

"Prometheus…" Pandora said as she saw the ship fly off into the distance. "You are no longer my brother."

* * *

After Prometheus fled, Neal confronted Pandora about what had happened

"Pandora... What happened just then?" Neal asked as he leaned against the side of the hangar, too tired to stand, or for that matter even move.

"I don't know," Pandora said as she sat beside him. "When your cries of pain met my ears... I felt a great emptiness in my heart. I didn't know what to do. I wanted desperately to help, but if I fused with Model W again, then what you had done for me would've been for naught."

"But you're back to _normal _now," Neal said. "What happened to the Biometal?"

"I can't explain it," Pandora said, "but for some reason, the Biometal began to glow pure white. The next thing I knew, it became _this_."

Pandora held up the diamond-shaped emblem she had megamerged with. It was clearly diamond-shaped, had two green optical sensors on the top of the bottom facettes, and on the back had what looked like small white wings set in small wire-set gold bases.

"Well that definitely isn't Model_ W_," Neal said as he examined the vastly different biometal.

Model E floated out of Neal's pocket and examined Pandora's biometal thoroughly. _"Hmm. This power... I know it from somewhere. Hold on!"_

"What is it?" Pandora asked.

_"This power! I know what it is now!"_ Model E said astounded. _"Your biometal is coursing with energy from Mother Elf."_

"Mother Elf? You mean the cyber elf created to cure Mavericks?" Neal asked. "I thought that she was only a legend."

_"Still, how did Mother Elf's power come into the Biometal?" _Model E wondered, ignoring Neal's question. _"This may only be a theory, but somehow, your emotions may have been like a beacon for Mother Elf."_

"So are you saying that Mother Elf has taken over this Model W like you did yours?" Pandora asked.

Model E shook his head (er... body). _"No. I only sense Mother Elf's energy coursing through this. If it were Mother Elf herself, then all of us would know about it."_

"So then... What do I call this now?" Pandora asked.

"I guess you could call it Model M," Neal suggested as he scratched his cheek. "One, it has Mother Elf's energy, and two, this Biometal is the complete opposite of Model W, and M is essentially an upside down W."

Pandora smiled. "Model M it is. Thanks for helping me with the name."

A slight tinge of red graced Neal's cheeks as he weakly raised an arm to scratch the back of his head. "Nah, not really. Anyone could've figured that out. I mean in a _sense_, the letter _E_ is just a sideways _W_."

The next moment however, both of their exhaustion he caught up to them, and they soon fell asleep. Whether it was by coincidence or not, Pandora fell onto Neal's chest and was nuzzling his neck, a content look on her face.

"Well this was certainly unexpected," Vent said as he watched the two teens sleep.

"You're telling me," Aile said. "I didn't completely believe it when Prairie told us Model E used to me a Model W. But now that I've seen this, I just don't know _what _to believe."

"Well c'mon. Lets get these two to bed," Vent said as he picked up Neal while Aile took Pandora.

"Still, I never would've thought that Pandora would be fighting to _protect _something," Aile said.

"When you stop to think about it," Model E said, "Pandora didn't have much of a choice _but _to fight. It may've been that she never wanted to fight at all."

"Yeah. But Prometheus seems to enjoy the violence a lot more," Aile added, still upset that the Guardians on the roof were maliciously attacked the way they were.

"Plus, even if Neal offered to free Prometheus the same way he did with Pandora," Vent replied, "Prometheus would probably _kill_ him first."

_"I'm not completely sure if doing this will bring the world back into balance," _Model E said, _"but all I can really do is trust the strength of my Chosen One."_

* * *

**Pandora's new Megamerged form is an idea that I have come up with. That would probably make the Pandora in my story an OOC. But then again there really wasn't that much information on her that could be used without filling in the gaps myself, so I guess that would be expected.**

**Also, with Neal and Model E being the Mega Man of Heart. The meaning of "Heart" in this context is "The repository of one's deepest and sincerest feelings and beliefs", and not the definition for "The four-chambered muscle that pumps blood to your body".**

**Below I will clarify which Biometal give which Mega Men which Title.**

**Model H - The Wind Mega Man  
****Model F - The Flame Mega Man  
****Model L - The Ice Mega Man  
****Model P - The Shadow Mega Man  
****Model W - The Evil Mega Man **

**The ones below are just titles I made up since there was never an official title used for them in-game. At least not to my knowledge.**

**Model X - The Mega Man of Light  
****Model Z - The Mega Man of Belief**

**I don't remember completely, but I think that Vent and Aile are simply called "The Model ZX Mega Men".  
****And just to clarify, the bearer of Biometal Model A (Ashe/Grey) was called "The Model A Mega Man". **


	10. Return to Inner Peace

It had been three days since Pandora's liberation from Model W and Prometheus' attack on the Guardian Base.

When Neal had fought Prometheus, he had lost because of a few key factors. One, he was in a weakened state from freeing Pandora from the Model W. Two, his armored trench coat was severely damaged beforehand. And three, he hadn't had that much to eat since his little _undersea _adventure.

Model E revealed once again that the reason his armored trench coat was so damaged at the beginning of the fight was because the_ original _article of clothing that it was built upon was missing the sleeves and shoulders.

Now that he had fully recovered, he would be able to go to Inner Peace, his old stomping grounds, and hunt down a new trench coat to replace the one that had been shredded. It had been around a week since Neal had "disappeared from the radar", so now would be as good a time to go as any.

Pandora wasn't 100% ready to be moving about on her own (and still confined to her bed and only able to move around for short periods), and if Vent and Aile went with him he might draw unnecessary attention to himself.

With a bit of persuasion, Prairie finally allowed for the transfer of Neal to Inner Peace via Transerver. After all she didn't want her new Chosen One jumping out of the Guardian Base.

_Again_.

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Brilliant Show Window**

At the edge of the walls within, Neal had been transported to Inner Peace, his old stomping grounds from times before. He wore the same pants as he had before, but now he was wearing a white T-shirt, since he no longer had a trench coat (which had become his signature garment).

"Ah, its good to be back," he sighed to himself as he looked around. "Old place hasn't changed a bit."

"_Now remember Neal, if you run into trouble, don't be afraid to call in for backup,"_ Prairie instructed through the communicator he received. It was pretty much the same model as the ones Vent and Aile used, except_ slightly _more streamlined since it _was _the newest model.

"Got it," Neal replied. "Just remember to keep an eye on Pandora for me okay?"

Prairie sighed._ "Don't worry, I will. Now hurry up and get your shopping done. The longer you're out in the field, the longer you're vulnerable to your enemies."_

Neal nodded. "Yes Prairie."

As he cut off the link, he stepped out into the sunlight and took a deep breath in. "Hello Inner Peace," he said to himself.

As soon as he got to higher ground, he took the moment to look over to the center of Inner Peace, where the Slither Inc. main office building once stood above everything, just like how Serpent had once stood above all other humans and reploids before his defeat. The outer area around its base had been cleared and re-purposed for new businesses, hotels, office buildings, etc. However what really bugged him was what stood at the center.

A large gold-plated statue of the late Serpent. Its seemed to mock him with its very _existance_, the way it stood _above _everyone with its fake smile that had fooled and killed so many in the past.

From what he had gathered, the plaque probably had something carved into it like, "In the caring memory of our greatest hero, Serpent", "Serpent: CEO, Businessman, Hero", or some other piece of apparent bullshit that nearly everyone was willing to swallow.

Neal was about ready to gag at the thought. _I still can't believe how much they worship the bastard. But what can you do? They're so blinded to the truth by a false peace that they'll believe_ any_ lie shoved down their throats._

Neal was getting visibly more angry by the second, so before his rage could increase any further, he set the device on his ear to play a bit of easy-listening music as he took a deep breath.

"No. You're not here for Serpent. You're here to get a new trench coat," Neal said to himself as he looked for a directory._ Just ignore the king-sized _jackass_ and you'll be fine._

And with that, Neal walked toward the business district of Inner Peace, all the while keeping his eyes deterred from the stature of Serpent that continued to mock him.

_I wonder if I can get it_ accidentally _attacked while I'm here?_ Neal thought to himself with an evil chuckle. This caused people to stare, but they soon went back to their own business.

* * *

Back at the Grand Nuage, Prairie sat across from Pandora in her office. The lights weren't dimmed, so the room had a bit more color to it this time around.

After a tense few minutes, Prairie finally spoke up. "Pandora. Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Pandora asked, her hands resting in her lap while she awaited for Neal to return.

"How old are you _really_?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She of course was designed to look in her teens, so aesthetically she was probably fourteen or fifteen. Pandora looked to be the same as well, but she couldn't really be too sure.

Pandora placed a hand under her chin and began looking about the room. "I'm not sure, really. Keeping track of time was never really a priority for me back then. Of course I was never really _able _to anyway."

"So you have no idea how old you are?" Prairie asked skeptically.

"I know that Albert created my brother and I long before we met you," Pandora answered.

_Hm. That piece of information narrows it down a little bit, but not my much_, Prairie thought to herself. _Still, she could probably be at least a _couple_ decades older, if not a full century than Neal._

"Prairie. You seem troubled," Pandora said, noticing Prairie was clearly deep in thought.

Prairie ended her train of thought and leaned back in her seat. "It doesn't concern you."

After that another few minutes passed between them.

"I wonder how long it'll take for Neal to get back?" Pandora said to no one in particular.

"Why are you concerned about Neal all of a sudden?" Prairie asked.

Upon hearing his name, Pandora remembered what had transpired the first morning she had woken up, causing a slight blush to grace her cheeks. "Uh... No reason?"

_That sounded more like a question then an answer_, Prairie thought to herself. _And why on Earth is she blushing like that?_

* * *

A half hour later in Inner Peace, Neal finally came upon a familiar military surplus store, which was where he bought his trench coat the _first_ time around. "Ah the old military surplus store," he said to himself as he walked in and looked at the shelves. "Fell like I'm seeing an old friend again."

As Neal walked in, the store manager looked up and took notice. "Neal? Is that really you?"

Neal looked to his left and saw a large, well-muscled balding man with a gray beard and narrow eyes wearing a large camouflage shirt, green pants, and black military boots.

"Oh hey Chuck," Neal said walking over to the counter. "Yeah it's me, but why _wouldn't _it be me?"

"Don't you remember?" he asked. "There was a huge maverick attack in Inner Peace. You were right there when it happened."

_Gotta feign ignorance_, Neal told himself. "Really? Well I must've missed it. What happened?"

"Some pink-armored battle mechaniloid suddenly stormed in and shot up the entire square!" the man said flailing his arms around. "Thank goodness Legion's private army chased the bastard off. Especially those new Golem mechaniloids. Whoever built them must've been a _genius_."

_That's a load of BULLSHIT! _Neal thought to himself as he was getting visibly more angry.

"Yeah I know. Hearing about mavericks makes me sick too," Chuck said, misinterpreting Neal's angering expression.

"So… Chuck… Think you could find me another black trench coat? My old one got totaled a while back," Neal said, trying to keep his fake smile on his face.

"Oh sure, I think I have one more in the back," Chuck said. "I'll go get it for you."

"Thanks Chuck," Neal said as the man left his view behind the shelves. As soon as he was sure he wouldn't be seen, he set his little revenge plan into action, walkind towards one of the shelves with an evil smirk on his face.

* * *

A few minutes later after Neal had payed for his purchase.

_One… Two… Three…_ Neal counted to himself as he walked away.

The next moment a plume of green smoke burst out of the front door of the shop and half of the windows.

"Ahhh, chemical stink bombs," Neal chuckled to himself as the large manager stumbled out of his store and fell into the street coughing out chemical sting. "So much better than _organic _stink bombs."

_"And why exactly is that?" _Model E felt prodent to ask from his place in Neal's pocket.

"It's all in the delivery and the potency," Neal said to himself as he continued to walk through the streets of Inner Peace, his trench coat billowing behind him in the wind as he walked forward.

* * *

As Neal walked through the crowd, on his way to his former home before heading to the nearest Transerver to get to the Guardian Base, he suddenly saw a flash of orange mixed into the crowd.

_Orange... Wait! It couldn't be!_ Neal thought to himself as he realized what the flash of orange meant.

Walking through the crowd was none other then Atlas, Chosen one for Model F. And I'll tell you this much, she didn't look happy.

_Maybe if I turn around fast enough she won't notice me_, Neal thought to himself. However his actions were too slow.

At the moment Neal saw Atlas' cold gaze meet his own, he immediately turned around, only to see a reploid kid in blue clothing with blue hair, giving him the same look. He immediately turned to his right and saw a reploid kid in green with light green hair, and a katana in a red sheath. His gaze too was filled with hatred, which didn't bode well for Neal. He immediately turned around to see a _fourth _reploid kid in purple with matching hair, and a red scarf over his mouth.

At the moment he was surrounded on four sides, the crowd moving through the square seeming not to notice. But of course if you were dumb enough to believe that Serpent wasn't evil, then you were pretty much dumb enough to believe _anything_.

_Wait a minute... _Neal thought to himself as it suddenly dawned on him, remembering his briefing from the other day. _These are the Four Mega Men that possess the other Biometal!_

"_Neal. I'm going to get us out of her with the Portable Transer," _Elpizo spoke.

As Neal watched the Four Chosen Ones for a tense minute, he waited for himself to be whisked away by the teleporter. However, it never happened.

_Model E! What's taking so long?_ Neal asked, his heart already racing as the Four Mega Men began walking towards him.

"_I think its a pretty safe bet to say that _that's _the cause of the delay," _Model E spoke as he motioned to Siarnaq, who was currenlty carrying a medium-sized jamming device on his back.

At that moment, the four Mega Men closed in on Neal. Anger filled all their eyes as their hands inched toward their Biometal.

**MegaMan ZX Soundtrack – Phalanx**

"Hello Mega Man Model E," Aeolus spoke in a cold tone. "I must say, you're even _less _impressive in person."

"Yeah. And the ZX Twins aren't anywhere near her now," Thetis added.

"I owe you for the disgrace you handed me in our _last _encounter," Atlas spat.

"TARGET ACQUIRED," Siarnaq spoke in an eerie monotone voice.

_Crap. This doesn't look good, _Neal said as he tried to find an escape route, but found none. _Not good at all._

"This is the end. Megamerge," Aeolus intoned as he brought out his katana and Biometal, transforming in a cyclone into Mega Man Model H, the Wind Mega Man.

"You won't get away this time! Megamerge!" Atlas shouted as she slammed her Biometal into the ground, transforming in a pillar of flame into Mega Man Model F, the Flame Mega Man.

"You're dead! Megamerge!" Thetis shouted as he tossed his Biometal in the air before catching it and becoming encased in a block of ice, transforming into Mega Man Model L, the Ice Mega Man, the moment it shattered.

"BATTLE SEQUENCE INITIATED: MEGAMERGE." Siarnaq spoke as he transformed in a swirl of purple mist, transforming into Mega Man Model P, the Shadow Mega Man.

After the transformations, the people of Inner Peace _finally _realized something was wrong and began to back away. A moment later everyone began scattering like cockroaches when you turn the lights on.

"Any last words before we eliminate you?" Aeolus asked as he took to the air and readied his twin swords.

"Yeah. Just one," Neal said as he straightened his trench coat before reaching into his pocket and pulling out Model E. "MEGAMERGE!"

In a flash of light, Neal stood against Aeolus the Wind Mega Man, Atlas the Flame Mega Man, Thetis the Ice Mega Man, and Siarnaq the Shadow Mega Man, in his megamerged form with his rapier drawn.

**To be continued...**


	11. Heart's Wellspring

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Slam Down**

Neal stood against the Four Mega Men with is sword poised for battle. As he prepared himself for the fight of his life, Thetis suddenly charged at him with an overhead strike.

Neal blocked it with a horizontal swing, but Atlas was suddenly at his unguarded right flank and delivered a brutally powerful attack directly into the side of his body, sending him flying right into the statue of Serpent with a sickening crunch before he hit the ground.

"Ugh," Neal grunted as he forced himself up. Before he could even get to his feet, he was suddenly bombarded by a wave of Atlas' fire bullets. He quickly pulled his trench coat over himself and took some of the hits before he heard the familiar hum of Atlas's charging sequence. He quickly leapt out of the way between the moment the small bullets stopped and the time the Charge Shot smashed into the base of the statue, creating a large dent but not making it fall.

The next moment Siarnaq launched a barrage of energy knives at Neal as he fell onto his back, pinning his trench coat to the ground before launching a massive shuuriken right at his chest. Neal quickly back-flipped in his trench coat before the shuuriken hit where his chest would've been, then slipped his arms from his sleeves before yanking the whole thing from the ground and throwing his rapier at Siarnaq, narrowly slashing at his scarf before recalling it to his hand as he threw his coat over his shoulder.

Just as he felt his grip tighten around his rapier, Aeolus dropped down behind him and slashed at his back three times before launching a shockwave through Neal's side. He quickly retaliated with a horizontal slash, but Aeolus countered with a double-horizontal block before kicking him backwards right into an Ice Dragon attack courtesy of Thetis that froze his left side.

Neal quickly jerked his arm in its icy prison to break it, but was interrupted when Siarnaq launched another wave of shuuriken that grazed his back, a couple lodging themselves in his shoulders.

_I'm getting overwhelmed here! _Neal cursed as he repelled one of Thetis' slash attacks, but was suddenly hit by another of Atlas' Charge Shots.

"Come on. Let's finish this," Aeolus ordered as he and the other Mega Men charged right at Neal with their weapons drawn.

"_Ohhhhh, _this is _not _going to be pretty," Neal cursed to himself before he was blasted by a wave of icicles from Thetis, slashed at by Aeolus, smashed in the gut my a right hook from Atlas, slashed across the back by Siarnaq, hit by an electric cyclone from Aeolus, hit by a fireball from Atlas, and hit by a wave of shuuriken from Siarnaq, and then an Ice Dragon by Thetis all in rapid succession.

"Good job you three," Aeolus said as he walked over to Neal's battered and bruised body before kicking him across the square. "Just a little more and this pathetic _human _will be no more."

"Argh!" Neal cried as he was pelted by another wave of kunai.

"_This'll _teach you to learn you _place _human filth!" Atlas roared as she slammed both of her Knuckle Busters right into Neal, sending him into the ground with each hit.

As Atlas walked away, Neal crawled out from the pit, only to be slashed at by another cheap shot from Thetis. "You should've just surrendered when we had the chance," he spat as he slashed at Neal's body before walking away proudly.

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Babel Tower**

Neal tried to get up, but his body simply gave out under its own weight.

"Gah!" Neal cried as he fell to his knees once again. The four Mega Men then took their time to completely surround him in a tight formation and look down on him like they did _all _beings who weren't Mega Men amongst their ranks.

"And thus ends the story of the Model E Mega Man," Aeolus pronounced with his arms crossed before drawing both swords and preparing to end Neal's life.

"Even _when_ he's megamerged, he's a testament to his species. Weak and pitiful," Atlas spat as she charged her Knuckle Busters, preparing to crush Neal even _more_.

"Yeah. You're just a weak kid who got lucky," Thetis said, venom in his voice as he prepared to launch another wave of icicles at Neal. "That Biometal you have must be as weak as _you _are."

"DECLARATION: YOU NEVER STOOD A CHANCE," Siarnaq said in his empty monotone voice as he drew a giant shuuriken and spun it in his hand like a buzzsaw as he and the other Mega Men bore down on Neal.

_Damn! How could this be happening? _Neal cursed to himself as he tried to force himself off the ground, only to winch as his cybernetic implants short-circuited with every movement he made. _I fought as hard as I could! _Why _can't I keep fighting?_

"_I'm sorry Neal. If I had more power, then maybe I'd be able to save you," _Elpizo apologized, his disappointment in himself cleary evident.

_Is this really the end? _Neal asked himself as he closed his eyes before he could see himself get completely destroyed.

**MegaMan ZXA Soundtrack – Pallida Mors**

At that moment, his entire body pulsed from the core, a chill running through his spine as a dark energy was unleashed from the depths of Model E and into every corner of his being. Suddenly, a massive pillar of dark energy erupted in the center of the square from Neal's body, knocking the four Mega Men out of their attacks as his body was lifted into the air.

"What the-" was all that Aeolus could get out before a massive energy wave knocked them all off their feet again.

"What's happening?" Thetis demanded as he tried to stand back up, only for the energy being emitted from Neal's to push him back. "Our intel didn't say anything about him having _this _much power!"

"How could such a weak human knock all of us off our feet?" Atlas demanded as she slammed her fists into the ground to make handholds before she was pushed back any more.

"ENERGY LEVELS RISING AT TREMENDOUS SPEEDS," Siarnaz declared as he held two energy kunai in his hands and stabbed them into the ground. "CANNOT FIND REASONABLE EXPLANATION."

At the same time, Neal's body was coursing with a new energy. However this energy wasn't the same kind of energy he felt when he megamerged with Model E. This energy was dark and sinister, like something from the depths of the underworld.

_My body... like it's on fire... _Neal managed to think out as the energy seemed to be bombarding every aspect of his being. The next moment the aura began to thicken around him, completely blocking the outside world from view. "GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The next moment, he felt like every fiber of his being had just been torn apart and mashed back together a hundred times over, the only sounds were his own bloody cries of pain.

* * *

Back on the Grand Nuage.

"Commander! We've just received confirmation of the four evil Mega Men appearing in Inner Peace," Gardena said as four emblems appeared on a topographical map of Inner Peace.

"The _four _of them?" Prairie cried. "What on Earth's going on down there?"

At that moment Tulip's console was monitoring Neal's vital signs and Bio-Energy readings. The next moment the Energy Gauge began to rise rapidly.

"Commander! It's Neal! Something's going on with himl!" she cried. "Heart rate, respiration, and brain waves are through the roof and still_ climbing_!"

"What? Show me!" Prairie ordered.

The main monitor in the bridge transformed into the same as Tulip's console. On it was a wireframe of Neal, and on the right of it were several gauges, which were rising over their safe thresholds. Suddenly the hologram began to rezz accompanied by a loud hissing sound.

"What's going on?" Prairie cried as the image seemed to rip itself into little pieces.

"Ahhhh!" Tulip cried as her monitor suddenly blew up right in front of her, along with several other computer systems in the bridge, knocking her out of her seat and onto the bridge floor.

"Tulip!" Gardenia cried as she ran over to help Tulip onto her feet.

"Neal's Bio-Energy readings were too much for our equipment to handle," Gardenia said as she tried to salvage whatever data she could. "Just what on Earth could _cause _such a reaction?"

"Trouble," Prairie answered. "Vent! Aile! Get down there and back Neal up!"

"Got it!" Vent and Aile said as they ran for the Transerver.

* * *

Back at Inner Peace.

"Just what the hell was that?" Aeolus demanded as he righted himself as the energy waves began to calm.

His answer came as the smoke cleared around the Model E Mega Man.

**MegaMan ZX Soundtrack – Fate Deep-Seated Grudge**

Neal was now standing again, except his appearance was completely different from before. His armored trench coat was gone, but instead he wore white armor with gold ornamentation over his arms and legs. A layer of armor was mounted on his front and back, connected by three straps on his sides held in place by gold ornamentation. His hands were now adorned with claws, and his shoes were pointed upwards at the tips. On his shoulder pads were gold epaulets, and his rapier was now green instead of crimson. What was also noticeable was that his eyes (or at least the one not hidden by his mask) were cold and emotionless, and had somehow been changed from cerulean to an eerie shade of pink, almost as if someone had injected pink neon gas into them. His face was also contorted into a psychotic sneer, like that of a crazed killer who wanted nothing more then to experience the intoxicating feeling of someone _else's _blood between his fingertips.

"What happened?" Thetis asked. "Did he just go Over-Drive?"

" . . . Weak . . . " Neal spoke, his voice now more dark and sinister then before.

"Huh?" Aeolus asked with disgust.

" You're all . . . weak . . . " Neal spoke once again.

"Ex_cuse _me?" Atlas demanded. "Did you just call the four of us _weak_?"

"That's . . . right," Neal chorused. "Weak . . . little bugs."

Atlas yanked her fists from the ground and glared right at Neal. "Oh yeah! Well if _that's _what you think I'll just have to give you another _beating_!" she cried as she launched a massive Charge Shot from her Knuckle Buster right at Neal.

"Ffft . . . ," Neal spat as he simply raised his left hand to the attack and took it head-on, a massive column of smoke formed from the blast.

"Ha! Got him!" Atlas cheered as she pumped her fist into the air. The next moment her face faltered as the smoke cleared around where her attack hit, Neal hardly fazed by the attack at all. "What?"

"Atlas, you are an idiot," Aeolus cursed to himself.

"I am NOT an IDIOT!" Atlas roared as she charged at Neal with her Knuckle Busters ready. She delivered a left hook to Neal's unguarded right side, but was blocked when Neal raised his forearm effortlessly and used a brutal palm thrust right into Atlas' face with his right hand, breaking her nose with a sickening crunch as she was thrown back like she'd been hit by a train.

"Your attacks . . . cannot harm me now . . . " Neal spoke as he brandished drew his weapon in his hands.

"Well it looks like this kid just doesn't know when he's not wanted," Aeolus said, angered that Neal was holding out as long as he was. "No more holding back. Let's end this now!"

The four Mega Men charged at Neal with their weapons primed, intent on finishing the new Mega Man once and for all. Little did they know it'd be easier _said_ than done.

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack – Dance-Macabre**

Atlas quickly re-aligned her nose with an audible crack before leaping onto the air and delivered a powerful straightforward punch at Neal, only to have him catch it with his bare hand. She swung her other fist at his "unguarded" side, only to have him catch it just as easily. She tried to pull away, but Neal's grip tightened on her Knuckle Busters to the point that he crushed the barrels with his sudden vice-like grip. The next moment he leaned back onto the ground and kicked Atlas in the chest with enough strength to knock her hands out of her weapons and right into the statue of Serpent with a sickening crunch. Her armor cracked under the strain, and the cracks already present in the statue to widened.

Neal discarded the two weapons like they were merely hunks of trash. The next moment Thetis rushed at him from the side.

Thetis quickly attacked Neal with his halberd, only to have Neal tear it from his hands, a look of horror crossing his face as he suddenly found himself without a weapon, before smacking him across the face with it multiple times before kicking him right into the statue of serpent, a sickening crunch as his armor cracked under the strain as well.

"Damn," Atlas cursed as she finally pulled herself together, only to have Thetis suddenly drop down and land on top of her. "Get off me you idiot!"

Just as they were about to get up, Neal threw the stolen halberd into a crack in the statue with enough force to widen it tremendously. The next moment he leapt high into the air before driving it all the way in with a powerful kick, then leapt out of the way as the base shattered altogether, causing the statue to collapse on top of the both of them.

As Siarnaq moved to get the others out from under the rubble, Aeolus flew high into the air before dive-bombing at Neal from above with his swords crossed. Neal parried the attack by thrusting his sword skyward, breaking Aeolus' guard. As Neal's neon green rapier headed right for him, Aeolus quickly twisted out of the way, just to have his left shoulder be grazed right down to his undersuit before he dashed away in order to assess the damage he had taken.

Siarnaq clenched his fist and launched a half-dozen ring-shaped purple shuuriken right at Neal before slicing through the rubble with a giant shuuriken. Neal didn't even flinch as the six Mondala Stars impaled themselves into his armor by their points. At the moment he acted like the weapons impaling him were just mosquito bites.

Just as Siarnaq had freed the other two Mega Men from beneath the rubble of the statue, Neal's clawed grip suddenly took hold of the back of his head. The next moment he was yanked right off his feet before being slammed into the ground face-first in an over-head swing, breaking the front of his helmet and sending cracks through the ground in the process.

Thetis quickly launched a wave of ice shrapnel at Neal after getting off of Atlas, but he quickly grabbed Siarnaq by the head once again, then used his vulnerable body as a shield to take the bulk of the damage. The next moment Neal threw Siarnaq at Thetis, knocking the both of them into Atlas who had just begun to recover, but found her face back into the dirt again.

" . . . Heheheheheh . . . " Neal cackled as his head lazily tilted to the side, a murderous look filling his visible eye as he continued to laugh. "You're all so weak . . . It makes me laugh . . . Heheheheheh . . . "

"Get up you fools," Aeolus cursed as he and the other three Mega Men rose. "Let's eliminate this _plebian _and bring the Game of Destiny to a swifter conclusion."

The four Mega Men rose, their armor cracked and their weapons damaged as they had resummoned them to their hands. Their pride having just been trampled on by the supposed upstart, they all blindly rushed at Neal simultaneously.

As they all did, the grin on Neal's face widened, threatening to tear it apart as his eyes filled with an unsatiable bloodlust.

* * *

Up in the Grand Nuage, Vent, Aile, Prairie, Gardenia, Tulip, and Marguerite continued to watch in horror as Neal in his transformed state continued to shrug off the four Mega Men's attacks, and at the same time deliver brutal attacks right back.

"What on Earth is going on down there?" Vent asked as he continued to watch.

"Somehow Neal has managed to transform into a new form," Prairie answered. _This is just like when Elpizo transformed with the power of the Dark Elf._

"Just look at how he's beating the four of them into the ground," Aile said worried. "It's like he isn't even _fighting _them anymore. It's like he's just hurting them for the sheer pleasure of it."

"Neal isn't in control of his own actions any longer," Prairie said.

"Huh? How do you figure?" Aile asked.

Prairie rested her head behind her hands as she watched Neal continually thwart all of his enemy's efforts to subdue him. "I may not know Neal that well, but I know that he's the kind of person who'd never fight like _that_. There's obviously something _else _at play here."

"So what do you want us to do then?" Aile asked.

Prairie turned her seat around and faced the two ZX Mega Man. "I want you to go down there and try to talk some sense into him." She looked over her shoulder to a close-up shot of Neal's face, and knew that the cold look in his eyes wasn't in his own. "I don't like that cold, empty look in his eyes. It's like looking into a snowstorm in the dead of winter."

"Where'd _that _tidbit come from?" Vent asked. "A _fortune cookie_?"

The next moment Aile smacked him over the back of the head for his blatant display of disrespect.

"Doesn't matter," Prairie said as she turned her gaze away from the monitor. "Are you up to it or not?"

"We're up to it," Aile said as she dragged Vent out of the room.

"I'll see if I can contact the Hunter's Guild and get a hold of Ashe," Prairie said. "I have a feeling we're going to need everyone we can get for this one."

"But what about crowd control?" Aile asked.

"I've already sent Guardian troops down there to help," Prairie said. "You two just focus on trying to get Neal back to his senses. The others will get the citizens to safety."

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack – Crisis Zone**

Vent and Aile appeared before the five fighters in their megamerged forms just in time to see that Neal clearly was _definitely_ no longer in control of his own actions. The sight that greeted them was clear evidence to that.

Thetis, Atlas, and Siarnaq's beaten bodies were scattered across the square, large chunks of their armor either ripped off and scattered around, their bodies bruised and bloodied like they'd been thrown through a meat grinder. At the center of the square by the fallen remains of the statue of Serpent, Neal continued to fight a beaten Aeolus, who at the moment was clutching his left side with his right hand as he continued to fight with one sword, only to have each strike parried near-effortlessly.

"Woah," Vent said as he looked around. "The two of us could barely hold our own against the _four _of them, but Neal's beating them into the ground like it's nothing."

"Vent look!" Aile cried as she suddenly jabbed Vent in the shoulder from his _rubbernecking_.

Neal had suddenly knocked Aeolus' sword out of his hand, and just as he turned around and tried to dash away, Neal suddenly grabbed onto his back and _literally _tore his wings out, tossing them aside before grabbing the right side of Aeolus' neck and his right shoulder with his clawed hands.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Aeolus cried as Neal began to pull his neck and shoulder apart from each other, sparks beginning to fly out as the armor shattered under the strain.

"He's going to tear him to pieces!" Aile cried. "We have to stop him!"

"Already on it!" Vent said as he rushed at Neal from behind, building energy into his saber before slamming it into the ground releasing all its power directly into Neal's body, separating the two of them and throwing Aeolus from his grip.

Neal suddenly summoned his rapier in a flash of green light and turned on Vent, their weapons clashing as they both fought for dominance.

Aeolus tried to crawl away as best he could, but he was suddenly yanked into the air by his collar by Aile as she pulled him to eye-level.

"What did you four _do _to him?" she demanded pointing to Neal.

"Why would I tell a fool such as _you_?" Aeolus spat, but quickly regretted it as Aile dropped him onto the ground again.

"I'll let the four of you go this _once _since you're all so beaten," Aile said as she began to walk over to assist her brother. "But-" she said suddenly turning a cold gaze at him. "The next time we meet, you'd better be ready to meet your match."

Atlas spat a wad of blood out as she managed to collect her weapons, which had been damaged beyond belief in the short struggle. "We don't need sympathy from the likes of _you_," she cursed as she forced herself up, only to have her legs buckle underneath her and send her sprawling to the ground in a bloody heap. "Damn that human."

"CONCLUSION," Siarnaq muttered as he weakly got to his feet, favoring his right side. "CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT WOULD BE UNWISE. TACTICAL RETREAT ADVISED."

"Just you wait Model E Mega Man," Thetis spat as he helped Atlas to her feet the best he could. "You'll get yours yet. And that _Biometal _of yours too."

In a flash of light the four Mega Men were whisked away, leaving the ruined battlefield bare except for the shattered fragments of armor, Neal, and the two ZX Mega Men.

At the same time, Vent finally overpowered Neal and managed to launch a charged shot from his ZX Buster at his chest, only to have Neal shake it off with little effort.

"Heh. Just like old times huh?" Vent asked as he readied his weapon.

"Don't forget, Neal's our friend too," Aile corrected. "We can't afford to hurt him too much."

At that moment Neal took a piece of rubble in his hand and tossed it into the air before throwing it right at the two of them. They both managed to dogde the projectile, but next moment a deep rumbling sound could be heard from behind them. As two of them turned around, the building directly in the path of the thrown debris beginning to collapse on itself, a massive hole could be seen going straight through it before it completely collapsed on itself.

"Hurt _him_?" Vent asked pointing at the pile of rubble that used to be a building. "What about _us?_"

"We'll just have to do our best then," Aile said. "Get ready. He's coming," she said as Neal began to walk towards them.

* * *

In the Grand Nuage, miles away from the chaos of Inner Peace.

Prairie, Gardenia, Tulip, Marguerite, and Pandora continued to watch as Neal in his "Dark Form" continued to wreak havoc on the center of Inner Peace. The only thing keeping him from terrorizing the city any further were Vent and Aile's continued interference.

Prairie remembered back to the time that Elpizo had transformed into his Dark Elf Form from footage the Resistance had manage to capture from data that Zero had collected and that salvaged from the security equipment. Just _watching _her new friend run wild in his berserker-like state sent a chill down her spine. As she clutched the stuffed animal that Ciel had given her many, many years ago, she began to wonder if she'd ever live long enough to see the world at a _true _peace.

No matter what kinds of attacks Neal was hit with, he just kept fighting like a mindless beast. Finally Pandora had seen enough. "Commander Prairie. Send me down there via Transerver."

"What? Why?" Prairie asked.

"At one point my brother and I nearly destroyed Inner Peace, and since then we've only been remembered for the evil we've committed," Pandora explained, a pang of regret crossing her face. "I don't want Neal to be remembered like that when he isn't even in control of his own actions."

"It isn't a matter of whether or not I can send you," Prairie said. "It's a matter of whether or not you can hold out long enough."

"I think I can hold out for at least a half hour," Pandora said as she clutched Model M in her hands.

"I can understand if you want to repay Neal for all he's done for you," Prairie said, "but that isn't any reason for you to risk your life like this."

"I'm not doing this because I _owe _him," Pandora said. "I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do."

Prairie turned away from Pandora and looked back up at the screen. Vent and Aile both launched fully charged buster shots right at Neal, but just as fast as he was knocked off his feet, he was back up again, hardly fazed in the slightest. "Okay. You can go. But try not to die down there."

"Thank you Prairie," Pandora said as she left for the Transerver room.

"Set the coordinates and get her down there this instant," Prairie ordered.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Gardenia replied.

"Why not?" Prairie asked.

"Neal's biometal seems to be releasing some kind of interference that's affecting our ability to lock onto the proper coordinates," Tulip answered.

"Hold on. How did you get _Vent _and _Aile _down there then?" Pandora asked.

"I don't have a full explanation for what's going on," Marguerite said. "However I have a theory. It may be possible that while Neal was fighting the other four Mega Men, that his attention was being more diverted, and that in turn may have affected his Biometal's interference."

"So now that _only _Vent and Aile are fighting him," Gardenia continued, "the berth of his Biometal's interference field has widened considerably."

"So where does that leave _me_ then?" Pandora said, tapping her foot irritatedly.

"We'll have to send you out of the disruption field's range," Marguerite answered.

"From there you'll have to go on foot," Gardenia finished.

Prairie sighed as this day just kept getting worse and worse by the second. "Okay then. Just get her as close as you can."

"Yes ma'am," Tulip said as she and the others began to type in transerver information.

"Preparing for transfer," Marguerite said as she finalized the coordinates. At that moment Pandora had just gotten to the Transerver room and was mentally preparing herself for whatever was about to happen. "Transfer start," she said as she hit the final button.

* * *

After being thrown from the Transerver Network, Pandora finally hit the outside world. When she finally got her bearings, she realized that she was at least a dozen feet in the air before she started falling.

"Ahhh!" she cried as she was about to hit the ground. "Megamerge!" The next moment she hit the ground with a thud. "Owwwwwww."

After shaking off her fall, she looked around to get some idea of where she actually was. What immediately caught her eye were the massive trees bolstered by synthetic implants, and the thick canopy hiding several dozen colonies butterfly-shaped mechaniloids.

"Where the heck am I?" she asked as she looked around, having _no _real cognitive idea of where she was. The next moment there was a small burst of light above her head before a small ear-mounted communication device (like the ones Vent and Aile used) suddenly appeared and dropped right onto her head. "Ouch!"

"_Pandora! Pandora do you read me?"_

"Commander Prairie?" Pandora asked as she picked the device and placed it on her ear. "Where am I right now?"

"_Sorry about the drop," _Prairie said. _"The best we were able to was drop you a half-mile from the city walls."_

"So then I have to go the rest of the way on foot," Pandora said to herself. "Okay then, I'll get on it."

As she shut off her communicator, she summoned her weapon in a flash of light before getting into a running start, her staff in her hand. "Okay then. Let's see if I can still do _this_."

As soon as she was running as fast as she could, she threw her leg over her staff and began flying forward. At that moment an odometer, compass, and obstacle-notifier appeared in the form of blue holograms with red and yellow highlights, a beautiful silver contrail of sparkling energy flowing off the back of her staff as it took off into the air. At the same time a set of footholds appeared behind her feet, offering her better support.

As the landscape flew past her while she sped through the forest, only one thought crossed her mind.

_Neal. Just hold on._

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Pandora had finally ridden out of the forests and found the wall surrounding Inner Peace in her sights. Just as she neared the wall, she quickly pulled back on her staff, directing it up and over the wall. As she touched down and sat against a wall, she took note that in her new form, that flying higher then ten feet above the ground on her staff took a lot of energy out of her.

"_Pandora. We've got track of your location," _Prairie said over the comm link. _"Right now you're at the southwestern wall, and the others are currently at the northeastern."_

"So in a nutshell I'm _really_ going to have to book if I want to get there in time to help?" Pandora asked, already knowing the answer as she saw several massive plumes of smoke rising from Inner Peace. "Man, this is the _worst_."

"_Ashe said she'll be there very soon," _Prairie said. _"I'm not sure what she meant when she said she'd be bringing a _friend_, but I'd feel better if you were there to help regardless."_

"Okay," Pandora said after taking a short break. "I'll get there as soon as I can."

As the link cut off, she threw her leg over her staff once again before leaping over the edge and hoping her staff had _gliding _capabilities. The next moment, as if by its own will, a wide pair of glowing white energy wings sprouted from the front and back of her staff before filling with air and gliding over the slightly-repaired highways of Inner Peace.

At first Pandora was completely amazed at the new power her reborn Biometal had given her, but she quickly remembered what she had to do and urged her staff to fly through the air faster. The next moment she felt her staff's speed increase _considerably_.

"I'll have to remember to thank Neal even _more _once this is all said and done," she said to herself with a smile as she tightened her grip on her staff, her hair and robe fluttering behind as her body and staff cut through the wind.

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack – Rockin' On**

As Vent continued to clash blades against Neal, Aile ran around behind him and charged her buster to full power. The next moment she spun around and aimed at Neal's back. "Now!"

Vent quickly dashed backwards away from Neal just as the shot was about to hit him in the back. The moment it got within his range however, he swiftly spun around and thrust his sword straight through the blast, causing the energy to scatter behind him in all directions, nearly striking Vent and blowing out several ground-level windows at the same time.

"Watch it!" Vent cried as he made sure all his polymorphic hair was still there. "You nearly shot me!"

"Gah!" Aile cried as Neal suddenly slashed her weapon right out of her hand before raising his weapon to strike her down.

"Aile!" Vent cried as he dashed over to her, praying beyond all hope he'd be able to get to her in time.

Suddenly, just as Aile was about to get cut down, one of the ZX Buster's charge shots suddenly came out of nowhere and slammed right into Neal, knocking him off his feet.

"What the?" Vent and Aile both asked, realizing _neither _of them had used that charge shot. "Who-" Vent asked as he looked to the left, seeing an exact replica of Aile blowing a bit of imaginary smoke off the end of her blaster barrel.

"Hey guys. Miss me?" the other "Aile" said with a wave. The next moment there was a bright flash of light, revealing Ashe in her megamerged state, twirling her own buster around her hand. "So uh. Who's the _psycho_?" she asked jabbing a thumb at the recovering Neal.

"Long story," Aile said as he quickly grabbed her weapon and extended her saber.

"Well okay then," Ashe said cracking her knuckles as she aimed both weapons at Neal as he was about to recover. "I'll just give him a good shot between the eyes and we'll call it a day," she said as she aimed her buster right at Neal's head, her cursor locking onto him between the eyes as her finger neared the trigger.

"Hold it!" Aile cried as she knocked Ashe's aim away from Neal, sending the charge shot bouncing off a wall and into the engine of a car, blowing it out in a massive fireball.

"Hey what was _that _for?" Ashe demanded shaking her fist in the air. "I almost _had _him!"

"I was just about to _say_ why," Aile added. "Something happened when he was being beaten by the other four Mega Men, and now he's a crazed berserker. We can't just blow him up like every other _Maverick_."

"So… You're saying I need to be a little more _delicate_," she said, a hint of amusement at that last word. "You hear that Grey? You need to be a little more _delicate_!" she shouted above her.

"Who?" Vent and Aile said looking at each other, then to Ashe.

The next moment a loud growling sound suddenly caught everyone's attention. When they all looked to the top of the nearby building, a beastial silhouette suddenly appeared above Neal just as he pulled himself up from the ground. The next moment a large black and red-armored panther-shaped pseudoroid touched down behind him before wrapping its arms and legs around him.

Neal tried to shake the panther-shaped pseudoroid off his back, but the next moment it suddenly stabbed its tail into the ground before suddenly sending a massive electric current through his body and into the surrounding ground. "YAHHHHHHH!"

After the electric current died out, the panther-shaped pseudoroid let Neal fall to the ground in a heap, his armor smoking like a short-circuited appliance.

"Sorry about that sis," it spoke in a beastial voice as it walked over to Ashe. The next moment in a flash of light, the panther-shaped pseudoroid disappeared and was replaced by a lookalike of Ashe in her megamerged form, except with darker skin, a small scar under his left eye, and two large plugs extending from his shoulders. "By the time you said _delicate_, I was already off the building," the lookalike said rubbing the back of his head.

"Wait a minute," Vent said confused. "Who is _this_, and why does he have the same armor as you?"

"Long story," Ashe rebuttled. "I'll tell you later."

"Anyway, that Ground Spark outta knock him out for a while," _Grey _said jabbing a thumb at the downed Mega Man. "We can get him in restraints or something until then."

"Um, I think the _restraints _may have to wait," Vent said, pointing at Neal as he was slowly getting up, his body still smoking as his eyes regained their bearings.

"What the!" Ashe and Grey both cried as Neal got up, then fell to one knee before getting back up again, an arc of electricity running across his armor causing him to convulse.

"That should've had him down for a _week_!" Ashe said.

"Yeah! I just pumped him with enough voltage to move a _train_!" Grey added.

The next moment Neal lunged at them, but Vent and Aile quickly brought out their sabres and locked him in a cross-guard grip.

"Doesn't _anything_ stop this guy?" Ashe asked as she charged her blasters.

"I'm not, _ugh_, completely sure," Vent said, grunting under the strain of holding back the crazed megaman.

"All I know is, _ugh_, that he nearly ripped Aeolus, _rrgh_, in half like a _phonebook_ by the time we got here," Aile added as she tried to hold up against Neal's tremendous strength.

"Wait, when you say like a phonebook," Grey asked as he charged his blasters and took aim, "do you mean vertically or horizontally?"

"_Diagonally_!" Vent and Aile both cried as Neal suddenly overpowered them, but leapt out of the way as he was blasted in the back from both sides by Ashe and Grey.

"Wow. _Seriously_?" Ashe asked in shock, but had to suddenly transform into Aeolus to block Neal's slash attack aimed right at her.

"BAD IDEA!" Vent and Aile shrieked. "Transform into something _else_! NOW!"

"Why?" Ashe asked, now in Aeolus' voice.

" . . . Aeolus . . . I'll tear you . . . in half . . . " Neal said darkly as his eyes suddenly filled with an intense anger. The next moment he suddenly slashed Ashe's swords right out of her hands before grabbing her shoulders and trying to tear her arms from her sockets.

"Don't worry Ashe! I'll save you!" Grey said as the bolt on his helmet suddenly split. "A-Trans!"

The flash of light accompanied by A-Trans suddenly cleared, and a massive set of blue-armored jaws suddenly clamped on Neal from behind, pulling him away from Ashe just in time to prevent a premature dismembering.

Ashe immediately transformed back into her megamerged state, her hand going to her heart as she felt her life flash before her eyes. "My whole life just flashed before my eyes! There was a whole lot of shooting stuff for no reason in it too."

" . . . Rrrrrrrrr . . . " Neal grumbled as he tried to pry Grey's jaws open with his own hand, but was suddenly thrown out of his fanged grip and into the side of a building, causing a section of the building to collapse right on top of him before he had the chance to get up.

"Giga Freeze!" Grey roared as he widened his jaws, launching a freezing cloud of super-cooled air right at Neal, freezing him in a thick, jagged block of ice mixed with debris.

"Woah," Ashe said completely shocked at her "brother's" sudden display of power. "How'd you _do_ that?"

The next moment Grey transformed back into his megamerged form and fell to his knees, gasping for air as he looked up at the miniature iceberg he'd created. "I just *_gasp_* didn't want *_wheeze_* to see you get hurt."

"Awwww. Thanks Grey," Ashe said with a smile.

"Well at least _this _guy's out of it for a while," Vent said pointing to the mini-iceberg, relieved as he leaned against a wall and took a much-needed breather.

"Yeah, there's no_ way_ he can break out of all that ice when he's buried under a ton of rubble," Ashe added.

"Yeah, but how're we supposed to get to him _now_?" Aile asked. "He's buried under a ton of ice and rubble, and we _still _need to bring him back to his senses."

Just as things seemed to finally be calming down, a large cracking sound echoed through the empty city air. A moment later the mini-iceberg broke clean in half down the middle. Everyone quickly grabbed their weapons and aimed them at the pile of debris, knowing this fight was far from over once Neal broke free.

"Everyone! Keep your guard up!" Vent ordered as he charged his sword, Ashe and Aile charging up their busters.

"I can't believe he's still _moving _after all this," Ashe added in complete shock. "I mean we _electrocuted _the guy for Christ's sake! And then we flash-_froze _him right after throwing him into a building!"

"This fight is far from over guys," Ashe said as her muscles tensed, her trigger finger twitching in preparation for the oncoming fight.

Right as Grey was about to get up from the ground where he was kneeling, a white-clawed hand suddenly burst out of the ground in front of him and took him by the throat.

"Oh boy," he muttered as a pair of murderous eyes shot out of the ground in front of him.

* * *

After flying for what felt like forever, Pandora finally managed to get to the war-torn streets of Inner Peace where Neal's battle had started, and had then taken a drastic turn for the worse. Lamp posts were either bent out of shape or knocked over altogether, cars were blown out entirely, and windows were shattered in a flaming trail of destruction that lead from the heart of Inner Peace.

"Oh boy," Pandora said to herself as she looked around, remembering that it used to be _her_ causing this kind of destruction. "I have to find Neal before he hurts someone."

She ran as fast as she could through the ruined streets, her muscles protesting at the massive amounts of activity without the support of Model W. When she suddenly came to a split in the road, she debated which way she should go, her answer suddenly came to her when a wave of disrupted energy flared at her from the right side of the street.

She quickly ran around the corner and was faced with the sight of four armored warriors shooting at a single white-armored individual. The four continued to pelt the individual with energy blasts, but he continued to slice them in half or reflect them with his green-hued blade or reflect them back at his attackers, forcing them to dodge out of the way.

At a glance, she recognized the first three right away. The two with long blonde polymorphic hair were Vent and Aile, the two Mega Men who combined both Model X and Model Z together after the death of their guardian, Girouette. The third with the long ponytail of silver hair was Ashe, the descendant of Master Thomas from his the time when he was still human, and had by some strange construction of fate defied destiny. The fourth one had darkened skin, a small scar below his eye, and two massive plugs in his back. She suddenly remembered that while she was still bound to Model W, that it was her job to monitor Master Thomas' "heir" until the mind control sequence was completed.

She quickly rushed over, past them and aimed her staff at Neal. "Fire Head!"

The next moment an explosive force was launched from the end of her staff and driven squarely into Neal's chest, knocking him backwards from the sheer surprise of the sudden attack.

"Sorry I'm late," Pandora said with a slight bow. "I had a bit of trouble getting here."

"Okay I'm not sure who _you _are," Ashe said. "Hey guys. Care to let me in on who your new friend is?"

"Oh, uh…" Pandora said. "Um… I'm-"

"Incoming!" Grey cried as he fired desperately at Neal with his blasters, only to have his shots be smacked away with the flat of his sword.

"He's too fast!" Ashe cried as Neal was suddenly able to dodge her lock-on shots when she launched them.

"Pandora! Slow him down!" Vent ordered.

"Did you just say _Pandora_?" Ashe shrieked.

"Ice Head!" Pandora intoned as she slammed the end of her staff into the ground, sending a thick wave of ice across the ground, sending a sheet of ice up Neal's legs the moment his feet touched the ice.

"Wait! That's _Pandora_?" Ashe cried again. "Just what _happened _in the past three months?"

"Guys! He's hacking his way free!" Aile cried, pointing to Neal as he started hacking away at the ice covering his lower body with his rapier.

"Good grief," Vent moaned. "Doesn't _anything _stop this guy?"

Ashe and Grey both looked to each other, then nodded in recognition. "Guys. I think I just got an idea," Ashe said as she spun her busters in her hands.

"Wait, what're you going to do?" Pandora said, not liking the look in Ashe's eye.

"Double…" Ashe and Grey both cried as the bolt on their helmets split, before a pair of massive blue and purple holographic cubes spread out from Ashe and Grey's bodies, bathing the surrounding area in an eerie blue/purple light.

"I don't like the looks of this," Vent said as he took a few steps back.

"Giga…" Ashe and Grey both cried as Neal's body became covered in red crosshairs in their line of sight.

"Oh man! They're really going to do it!" Aile cried as she quickly jumped away, turning her back to the others and covering her ears as she laid on the ground.

"CRUSH!" Ashe and Grey both cried as they both raised their busters and took aim.

"No! WAIT!" Pandora cried as she ran out to stop them, only to have Aile tackle her to the ground.

"Too late!" Aile said as she threw her arms over her head. At the same time, Vent and Pandora suddenly did the same.

The next moment, the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire, hundreds of energy blasts arcing out of Ashe and Grey's blasters as they all slammed right into their designated target kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris, the dozens of spent rounds clattered against the ground as they landed around the two gunmen.

What felt like an eternity later, the rounds finally stopped, the eerie blue/purple hue disappeared as the bolt on Ashe and Grey's helmet slammed shut with a loud clack. Both of them fell to their knees, their weapons dropping out of their hands.

"_Phew_," Ashe sighed as she whipped some sweat from her forehead. "I've never seen so much gunfire in one place before."

"You're telling _me_," Grey said as he poked at the spent rounds before they began to disappear in tiny burst of light.

"_Hey are the two of you out of your frickin' _minds_!" _Model A demanded in both of their heads. _"That was the most exhausting thing I've ever _done_! What in the world were you _thinking_?"_

"That we'd get the _job_ done sooner?" Grey responded.

"Neal…" Pandora muttered to herself as she got to her feet, staring into the dustcloud.

"Eh heh. Yeah, I guess I went a little overboard there huh?" Ashe said awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

"A _little_? A _LITTLE_?" Pandora demanded as she suddenly pulled Ashe up off the ground to eye-level. "Do you even _know _what you've just _done_! You two trigger-happy idiots just _killed _my first friend in the whole world! And now you have the nerve to say you went a _little overboard_?"

"Hey get your hands off my sister!" Grey cried as he got to his feet.

"Stay out of this!" Pandora said turning on him as she looked right at him with anger filled eyes.

Grey suddenly shrunk back, and Pandora turned her attention back to Ashe.

"If I walk over there and find out that Neal is _gone, _I'll make you wish you _never _found Model A!" Pandora screamed as she threw Ashe to the ground. "You got that?"

"Wow. I've never seen her so angry before," Vent whispered over his shoulder.

"Well what do you expect? She just saw the first person who ever really helped her get gunned down like a helpless animal," Aile whispered back.

As Pandora walked toward the column of smoke where Neal had been frozen in place, her footsteps echoed off the now abandoned buildings in Inner Peace as she continued to walk forward, the wind brushing against the buildings as she looked into the column of smoke.

"Neal…" she cried to herself as she looked into the depths of the mist. "Please don't be gone."

"She seems pretty torn up about him," Ashe said sadly. "Great. Now _I'm _the bad guy."

"The both of you gunned him down like a helpless _animal_," Aile said flatly. "Of _course _you're the bad guys!"

Pandora felt her heart sink as the mist began to clear, no sign of Neal in sight. As she turned around, she let tears of sadness grace her face for the first time in a long time. Just as she was half way back to her friends, a powerful wind suddenly cut through the air, clearing the smoke completely in a single swoop.

"Pandora! Look out behind you!" Grey cried, pointing directly behind Pandora.

She turned around, and her defeated expression changed to a smile as the smoke cleared. Standing in the center of the blast zone was Neal, his armor damaged beyond all belief as it laid about in bits and pieces across the ground, only leaving him in his black under-armor except for his boots and helmet. At the moment he was hardly standing at all, and his gaze was fixed to the ground. It was nothing short of a miracle he was semi-conscious, and at the moment no immediate threat.

"Neal! You're alive!" Pandora said in relief.

"Look out! He's going to attack!" Grey overreacted as he suddenly shot at Neal in a panic when he raised his pink-eyed gaze from the ground.

"Wait!" Pandora cried just as Neal was knocked flat onto his back by the blast.

"Uh oh. I think we just walked back into square one," Vent said, paling as his exhaustion began to catch up to him.

"What makes you say that?" Ashe asked.

The next moment Neal jumped back up onto his feet, his hands balled into fists, his gaze narrowed, and his teeth gnashing together as he stomped towards them. As he stepped past the bits of armor, they suddenly leapt up off the ground and re-grafted themselves onto his body like something out of a sci-fi film.

"_That_," Vent said as Neal ran straight past Pandora and lunged right at Grey, pulling him into a chokehold as he slammed his head into the ground multiple times, making him bleed synthetic fluids.

"We've gotta stop him!" Ashe cried as she tried to pry Grey out of Neal's chokehold, only to fail before stepping back. "A-Trans!" The next moment she transformed into Vultron and pulled out her electric guitar before raising her right arm into the air. "Everyone cover your ears!"

Pandora quickly covered her ears, Vent, Aile, and Grey following suit as Ashe ran her now clawed hands over the strings of the guitar, sending a shockwave directly into Neal's body, causing it to vibrate enough so that Grey could squirm out before his head was popped off like a bottle cap.

Just as Neal was about to strike Grey in a rage, Vent quickly pulled out his sword and fought him off, Aile and Ashe quickly pulled out their blasters and began shooting like crazy in an attempt to subdue him. The next moment everything went to hell as the four-on-one fight started all over again, the crazed berserker somehow holding off the other four. Any damage done was just repaired by the self-healing armor, and his present augmentations kept him on an entirely different level than _any_ them.

In the midst of watching the fight, Pandora suddenly stopped. She looked at Neal, a sadness filling her eyes at the horrifying creature her friend had now become, and was instantly reminded of how she once was when she was fused to the Model W.

After running it in through her mind, she came to a decision. As she stepped towards Neal, she let her weapon fall out of hand, letting it disappear in a flash of light before it hit the ground. At the same time just as Vent, Aile, Ashe, and Grey leapt back from Neal to get a quick reprieve, their eyes widened as Pandora walked past them completely unarmed.

"Pandora what are you doing?" Aile cried as Pandora walked down the street to Neal.

"I'm going to get through to Neal," Pandora said as she walked toward him. "Neal. It's me. Pandora. Do you remember me?" she asked as she stood down the battle-torn street from him

Neal looked at Pandora, a mixture of blind fury and confusion filling his eyes as she looked at him.

"Everything's all right," Pandora said as she continued as she tried to get through to him. "The four evil Mega Men have fled. You can stop fighting now."

Neal's cold gaze narrowed at Pandora, his twisted senses interpreting this as a potential sign of attack. The next moment Pandora did something that had everyone in utter shock. In a flash of light, Pandora had released her megamerged form, her Biometal in her left hand.

"Neal. I know you're still in there," Pandora said as she spread her arms out to the sides. "There's no reason to fight. So please… return to the way you were before."

A bit of confusion crossed through Neal's eyes as he tried to process what was going on. Pandora then knew she'd have to take a gamble.

In a complete leap of faith, she tossed her biometal away from her, letting it clack across the ground until it came to a stop facing the sky.

"Pandora! Don't do it! It's too dangerous to go in unarmed!" Vent shouted.

Pandora didn't hear him. All she did was stare up into Neal's eyes, hoping beyond hope that she'd be able to reach him. "Neal . . . "

Neal's eyes suddenly became cold once again as he dashed right in front of her before raising his sword hand up into the air to strike her down.

"Run!" Grey cried. "Get out of the way!"

Neal swung his sword down in an arc right at Pandora, but she didn't waver. Everyone quickly closed their eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen. A few moments later however, no scream came. The four of them all looked up and were shocked to see that Neal's hand was shaking above his head, frozen in place as he looked up at it in confusion.

"He stopped!" Ashe said surprised.

"Neal. I believe in you," Pandora whispered as she looked pleadingly into his eyes, clasping her hands together to show her faith in him.

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack – Destiny**

Suddenly, for a brief instant, his eyes flickered a familiar shade of cerulean as his hand continued to shake.

The next moment Neal's sword fell from his hand and clattered onto the ground before disappearing in a flash of light. He suddenly stepped back, his hands going to the sides of his head before he fell to his knees as he let out a blood-curling scream that echoed through the destroyed section of Inner Peace. "Yaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"She got through to him!" Ashe said.

"_This battle is out of our hands now,"_ Model X said. _"Everything is up to _Neal_ now."_

Neal's eyes began to water as he felt his soul become aflame as he tried to rout this dark power from his body that had taken root. As he did so, golden energy began to shine between the seams of his armor. The next moment he slammed his fists to the ground leaving deep fissures, and then his own forehead as he continued to cry out. "Rrrrraaaaaaaaahhhh!"

"Come on Neal! You can do it!" Pandora said as Neal continued to fight for control. "I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

As Pandora's cries echoed through the air, Neal got back to his feet as the dark energy began to be forcibly expelled from his body, and the ground beneath him began to crack under the strain before he fell to his knees. As he was standing once again, the sickly white armor on his right arm began to crack. The next moment it suddenly shattered, revealing the thin pink-armored gauntlet from his true form.

"Just a little more!" Pandora encouraged as Neal was slowly gaining control. "You can do it!"

Neal's fist clenched as his white-armored left hand grabbed it by the wrist, a pinkish aura surrounding his right hand before he suddenly drove it through the armor on his chest right where his heart was. The next moment he suddenly tore Model E out from his body, which at the moment completely pitch-black due to the dark power that was imprisoning it.

"Hold on! How's he still megamerged?" Ashe asked as Neal continued to cry out in pain, still trapped in his megamerged form as his grip involuntarily tightened on his biometal.

"Whatever power in his Biometal has caused this transformation must still be connecting itself to him somehow," Grey answered as he shielded his eyes.

"But then how're we supposed to help him?" Aile asked as she watched Neal's torment. "He looks even _worse_ now!"

As his grip tightened around the corrupted Model E, his arm began to be taken over by the sickly-white armor again, the dark power continued to flow into his body from its depths. He continued to release a blood-curling cry as blood began to trickle out his eyes and mouth, still fighting for control.

"NEAL!" Pandora cried as she was thrown back by a darkened wind being exuded from the corrupted Biometal. "WAKE UP!" she cried as she forcer her way towards him, the waves of darkness trying to keep her at bay from its host.

"Pandora!" everyone cried out Pandora held her right arm out in front of her face, using it to shield herself from the oncoming darkness, much like how Neal had done for her before.

Pandora continued to force her way forward, her body becoming more and more damaged by the minute as the waves of darkness rolled over her. Right as she neared him, she put the last of her strength into one last push as she leapt at Neal with everything she had, resting her head on his chest with what little energy she had left.

"Everything's all right now," she whispered to Neal as the torrent of dark energy began flowing past her. "It's all right. It's all right."

Neal's eyes quickly clamped shut, then suddenly opened, revealing their original cerulean as the dark energy began to slowly abade. As the dark torrent finally ceased altogether, his arms fell to his sides, and Model E was suddenly purged of the darkness that had taken it over, its color swiftly returning before it clattered onto the ground as it left his grip.

The next moment in a flash of light, Neal fell out of his megamerged state, and his head rested on Pandora's shoulder as he fell to his knees. His hair fell over his face as his shoulders slumped before letting out an exhausted sigh as unconsciousness claimed him.

"Welcome back Neal," Pandora whispered into his ear as she allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness as well, the sun setting over the horizon of Inner Peace behind them.

* * *

**MegaMan ZX Soundtrack - Awake**

One day later in the Grand Nuage's medical bay.

As the sun's light peeked through the blinds of the window, Neal groaned as he finally felt the feeling coming back to his _anything_ from that trying ordeal the other day. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck, rolled over by a steam roller, and his head pressed in an industrial strength vise.

But more so then that, he was alive. _Somehow_, even after all the hell he went through.

The door to the room he was in opened with a silent hiss, and two people slowly tiptoed over to the side of his bed as it closed behind them.

"Oh look. He's still sleeping," one voice said.

"I guess we should've waited for Rose's approval before we snuck in here," the second voice said.

_Man. I can barely move a muscle, _Neal thought to himself. _I'm so tired I can't even open my _eyes_, _he told himself as he racked his brain, trying to figure out who's voices those were. His head was still a bit foggy from what had happened yesterday.

"What does her diagnostic say?" the second voice asked.

The sound of the clipboard being removed from the bottom of the bed and turning pages could be heard. "Seems he's suffering from a bit of internal bleeding, some neurological overload, bloodshot eyes, and a full-body case of sore muscles," the first voice said. "It looks like a tranquilizer has been applied to get his heart rate back down to safe levels, and he's currently in restraints to keep him from hurting himself."

_So _that's _why I can't move anything_, Neal thought to himself as he realized what that pressing feeling was.

"Anything else?" the second voice asked.

The sound of flipping pages echoed silently through the room again. "Well, it looks like his voice box has been under a lot of strain. Says a chemical moisturant was used to ease some of the swelling," the second voice said. "Probably from all the screaming he did yesterday."

_Screaming? _he asked himself.

"Is he going to be okay?" the second voice asked.

The sound of the clipboard being moved back to the end of the bed could be heard as someone took a seat beside the bed. "Well, he's probably unconscious right now, and by the looks of things, he's going to be like this for a few more days."

_Not unconscious_, Neal said to himself as he was able to let out a weak sign. _Just can't move._

"But what's happened to Model E?" the second voice asked.

"Fleuve and the rest of his staff are looking into it right now," the first voice responded. "We were able to get some footage from the security cameras before the interference from the biometal fried their circuits, so we can still get a little information out of that."

"Although what happened yesterday was so terrifying," the second voice said. "It was like he'd been taken over by the Model W _completely_."

"Fleuve is looking into that possibility," the first voice said. "After all, Model E _did _used to be a Model W."

"But what if that's the case?" the second voice asked. "What will become of Neal and Model E?"

The first voice signed. "Well, if Model E proves to be too dangerous, then we may have to end up destroying it."

_What? Destroy Model E!_

"As for Neal, we'll have to hide him within the ranks of the Guardians until things cool down," the first voice finished.

"But that could take _forever_," the second voice argued. "Or did you forget how hard Legion has been hunting Neal down. Don't you remember how Atlas and that army of modified galleons hunted him down."

"Yeah, I do," the first voice said. "But what _really _worries me is the way they were organized. It was almost like someone had… _prepared _them for her as soldiers."

"Well we won't get anywhere talking about it in here," the second voice said. "I'm going to my room. You coming?"

"Um. Yeah. I'll be there in a second," the first voice said. A few moments later the sounds of footsteps and the hissing of the closing door could be heard. "Neal. You've been through a lot haven't you?"

The next moment Neal felt a hand lovingly brush some of his hair out of his eyes in a caring gesture.

"I hope you get better soon," the first voice said as the door hissed open, and then closed once again.

_Man, if I wasn't so tired, I could've figured out who those two were, _Neal said to himself as he tried to get more comfortable. _Man, it sure is _hard _to sleep comfortably when you're strapped down, _he said to himself as he let his muscles relax. A while later he finally fell asleep again.**

* * *

**

**Neal's transformation is based on what Elpizo looks like when he fused with the Dark Elf, except it has been a little bit modernized (even though I didn't do a good job of describing it). It also goes without saying that for most of this chapter that when Neal had transformed that he was hardly in control of his actions.**

**Also, when I say that Atlas (the Model F Mega Man) "punches" at something, I will mean that she usually uses her Knuckle Busters. That is unless I specify otherwise.**

**As for the reason the streets of Inner Peace were described as such things like "war-torn", or "battle-torn". The streets got that way because of the stray attacks that were deflected.**

**One last thing. As for who the "first" and "second" voices were, I'll leave that up to you to interpret.**


	12. Licking their Wounds

Miles above the earth in the cloudy skies, the Grand Nuage soared through the skies. All aboard were weary from yesterday's attack that had taken place in Inner Peace.

The Guardians' soldiers had their hands full ushering civilians away from the battle zone, but since most of the people happened to be in a "running mood" that day, they just had to make sure that no one got _trampled_ to death.

At the same time it took Vent, Aile, Ashe, and Grey everything they had to suppress Neal's destructive rampage, otherwise the casualties would have skyrocketed.

Pandora wasn't able to do too much in regards to combat, but in the end she was able to get through to Neal in the end. Her body was nearly totaled in the attempt, but all that mattered was that everyone came out of this relatively _not _dead.

The mechaniloid patrols, which were supposed to suppress the attacks as well, were preoccupied in the Outlands handling rogue mechaniloids, and were thus unable to interfere.

As for Aeolus, Siarnaq, Atlas, and Thetis, the four Mega Men who instigated Neal into transforming into a violent berserker and sent him into a mad frenzy, were nowhere to be found.

Neal himself had taken some slight injuries, although his psychological state was a little _iffy_. His recovery would be a bit rough, and it would be difficult for him to move about in the open for a while. Or at least until his body and cybernetic implants recovered from the shock.

As for Model E, the source of this dark power would have to be confirmed before it would ever be safe for Neal to use him again.

* * *

**Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack – Babel Tower**

At the same time in the highest floors of Legion Tower, one imposing figure stood above four heavily injured ones. The room itself was circular, the overhead lights off, the only light source being the large monitor displays that showed footage of Inner Peace's prior events.

"Your incompetence as_tounds_," the large man said with a hint of distaste from the front of the room. The monitors on the opposing wall played images of Neal in his supposed Dark Form completely thrashing the four evil Mega Men in the various and cruel ways he had.

On their knees behind the large man were Aeolus, Siarnaq, Thetis, and Atlas; all of them covered in bandages beneath their clothing with the addition of various slings. Aeolus had a sling on his right arm and a cast on his ribs, in addition both his hands were in casts. Siarnaq's face was covered in bandages beneath his scarf, and was wearing a neck brace. Thetis had bandages on the sides of his head and a brace on his back. Atlas had bandages on her nose, a cast around her stomach, and braces on her arms.

"Not only do you fail to end the life of this… _upstart_," the large man continued with venom in his voice, "but you _dare_ to come back before me with your tails between your legs."

"THIS DEFEAT IS UNFORTUNATE," Siarnaq said in a flat tone.

"I honestly can't believe how easily he trounced you four," the large man said rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Well how were we supposed to _know_ about that power!" Atlas suddenly blurted out. "Your intel _never _said anything about the boy having _that _kind of power!"

"Please give us another chance," Aeolus said in a level tone. "We will not fail you."

The large man stopped rubbing the bridge of his nose and looked at the monitors in disdain. "Count yourselves fortunate I'm _sponsoring _the Game of Destiny. Otherwise you would've been dead the moment you set foot back here," he said in a cold, emotionless expression.

"We will not fail you again! We promise!" Thetis pleaded, only to have Atlas jab him in the ribs, sending him sprawling to the ground in a whimpering heap.

"Oh I _know _you won't," a psychotic voice said from behind them.

The four Mega Men turned around and saw a sinister silhouette in the darkness. The only discernable features they could see were the new figure's massive scythe and bloodthirsty smile. He seemed to ooze power, and his very presence was enough to drive stakes of fear through their hearts. Their faces drained of all power as the new figure strode towards them, his massive scythe poised over their heads.

* * *

Several days since the incident at Inner Peace.

Up in the medical ward of the Grand Nuage, Neal slowly felt the feeling returning to his muscles. They were sore, but at least they'd respond to his _own_ commands. It was certainly better than _yesterday_, which he hardly remembered any of it at all. But aside from that, he was able to move. The only problem; He was still strapped into his bead.

So, he did the only thing he could do in that situation.

"AHHHHH! HELP! HELP! THEY'RE _KILLING _ME! HELP! HELP!" he cried at the top of his lungs.

The next moment the door was knocked out of its hinges by a green metal guitar. A second after that Vent, Aile, and two grey-haired individuals in red, purple, and grey armor he didn't know with roulette-mounted blasters stormed into the room.

"We heard you scream! What happened!" Vent demanded as he poised his sword.

"What _happened_?" Neal asked sweetly. "You TIED me to a fuckin' bed! What do you THINK happened? I PANICKED!" he suddenly spat, straining against the restraints holding him with what strength he had.

"Then why'd you say 'they're _killing_ me'?" Aile asked.

"It could've just as easily _happened_ with me tied to a damn bed!" Neal cried. "Now get me out of these things before I _really _freak out!"

Vent sighed as he and the others dropped out of their megamerged states. "If you have enough energy to freak _out_, I suppose you have enough energy to move around."

Aile undid the straps holding Neal down and removed the catheter in his arm. A moment later he leapt out of the bed as though he couldn't get out of it _fast _enough. "Ugh," he moaned as he held his head. "What the heck is going on? I hardly remember anything."

At that moment everyone else in the room grew deathly quiet. A few Guardian members had poked their heads in through the door to see what was going on, but a threatening glare from the girl with the silver ponytail sent them running like rabbits.

"Neal. I think you better come with us," Vent said putting a hand on his shoulder. "There's something you need to know."

Neal suddenly felt very uneasy. The other four shuffled their feet around him, but he eventually swallowed his fear and began moving forward. "I'm ready. Tell me what happened."

* * *

Vent, Aile, Ashe, Grey, and Neal walked into the bridge. A few of the console's screens were damaged, and a couple control panels were blown out completely. On whatever monitors were working were the images of a war-torn Inner Peace. When Neal entered, everyone flinched, as though they were about to be struck.

Prairie looked like she hadn't slept in days, the bags under her eyes and her downtrodden expression testament to that. Seeing her like this, for some reason it made Neal hurt on the inside, as though _he _had done this to her.

"Commander. Neal is awake," Vent reported.

Prairie nodded as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Thank you. Vent, Aile, Ashe, Grey, I need you four to step out of the bridge."

The four of them looked to each other nervously before walking out of the bridge. After the door closed behind them, Prairie leaned back in her seat and removed her hat. After wiping some sweat off her forehead, she put her hat back on and somehow regained the dignity a commander possessed. "Neal. Remember yesterday when you went to Inner Peace?"

Neal faltered. "I don't remember anyything after Aeolus, Siarnaq, Atlas, and Thetis surrounded me and beat me to a pulp," he said flinching at the memory. "But… I did something bad… Didnt'I?"

Prairie nodded regretfully. "I'd tell you, but I think it'd be better if I _showed _you."

Gardenia, Tulip, and Marguerite all warily activated whatever overhead monitors hadn't been blown out. After they flicked to life, there was various footage of a warrior in sickly white armor with a green rapier and a murderous flair about him on the screen. For the next half hour, Neal watched as the white-armored warrior continued to destroy and fight his way through Inner Peace. Somewhere along the line, the picture was freeze-framed, and a rectangle drawn around the murderous warrior's face. It suddenly zoomed in on the picture, and a horizontal line moving down the image multiple times, increasing the clarity with every sweep. On the last sweep, Neal was looking at his own face, the murderous pink eyes an horrifying smile looking right back at him.

Neal immediately took a step back and nearly puked. "That… That's me isn't it?"

Prairie weakly nodded. "Fleuve is looking into how this happened as we speak. He and his staff have been working around the clock, but we haven't been able to find out that much about how this could have _possibly _happened."

The next moment, his hands went to the sides of his head and a sharp pain went straight through his skull. Suddenly horrifying memories flooded back to the surface, the footage of himself serving as the stimuli. "Oh god! Pandora! What happened to her! Where is she?" he cried in a panic

"Come with me," Prairie said with a sigh. Neal immediately followed her through the metal doors, and at the moment he was sweating bullets.

* * *

A short walk later, Prairie and Neal walked into one of the medical rooms. Neal looked to the bed and saw Pandora covered head to toe in bandages. Several devices were hooked up to her, including a heart monitor, brain wave monitor, and respirator.

"Oh god," Neal whimpered as he walked over to her bedside. "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god."

"Neal…" Prairie said half-heartedly.

Neal fell to his knees beside Pandora's bed. "I did this to her. _I _did this to her. How could I be so weak?"

Prairie put a hand on his shoulder. "Neal, this was out of your hands. If this is anyone's fault, it's _mine_. I should've sent backup with you, regardless of the risks."

Neal finally felt himself snap in two, tears streaming from his eyes uncontrollably as his shoulders shook. "It wasn't your fault Prairie. It was mine. It's just like they said. I'm no _real _Mega Man. I'm just a kid who got lucky after finding a Biometal. In the end… they were right about me… Everything."

"That's… not true…" a weary voice croaked out. Neal looked up to see Pandora weakly open her eyes. "You're… by far… the strongest person… I've ever known."

Neal's shoulders continued to shake as his tears fell to the floor. "Pandora, how can you _possibly_ believe that? I've hurt you so much, and it was all because I'm so weak. I don't even deserve to be _alive _right now… let alone forgiven."

"Hey, I could say the same thing about _myself_," Pandora said back, finally regaining some of her strength. "Or, do you not remember all the trouble you went through for _me_."

"But… That's different…" Neal said feebly. "_I _never woke up hooked up to a heart monitor, brain wave monitor, and respirator."

Pandora got out of the bed and began to remove the bandages on her head and face. "Neal. What's done is done. There isn't any point in complaining about something that's already happened _after _it's already happened."

Neal's head hung low, and he was at the lowest point in his life. But… at the same time, a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Pandora… I don't know when or how… But someday… I'll repay you for this."

Pandora got out of her bed and put her hands on his shoulders. "Just keep being who _you_ are and we'll call it even. Okay?"

Neal nodded weakly as he wiped the tears from his face. "Thank you. Now I just have to apologize to everyone _else_, so you just get back in bed and get some rest," he said, the tears on his face betraying his happy demeanor.

Pandora nodded as she got back into her bed. "Okay Neal. I'll see you later."

Neal nodded as he got up and wiped the last of the tears from his face. "Prairie, I mean, Commander Prairie. Would it be okay if I speak with you in private?"

Prairie was slightly taken aback by the forwardness of Neal's request. "Well um, I uh…"

Neal sighed as he headed for the door. "I can understand if you don't want to talk to me by yourself," he said sadly. "I suppose you should have Vent and Aile keep an eye on me anyway. After yesterday and everything…" he said solemly, his voice trailing off.

Prairie shook her head. "No Neal, I trust you."

Neal chuckled to himself as he opened the door for Prairie. "I actually find that a bit _surprising_. All things considered and all."

Prairie yawned as she stepped out the door. "If you want this girl's opinion, I think the best place for getting things out into the open is on the sky deck."

Neal nodded as he gestured for her to take the lead. "I'll just follow you then. My head's a bit foggy right now."

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack –Fragments**

A few minutes later, Neal and Prairie stood at the bow of the Grand Nuage, right behind the golden angel mounted on the front, its wings cutting the wind away from them as the airship moved through the skies.

"So Neal. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Prairie asked.

"Well…" Neal said rubbing the back of his head. "Since that time I told you my life's story in your office, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"Hm? What is it?" Prairie asked as she met his eyes.

"Um. Well," Neal started nervously. "I'm not sure if you'd really know about this or not but… Do couples… between humans and reploids… Do you know if they ever work out?"

A slight blush crossed across Prairie's cheeks. "Well…"

After a few minutes of thinking about that, she thought of the only human/reploid couple she ever knew. That one night all those years ago played through her mind, and she could almost hear the fragments of the destroyed space station screaming through the heavens as they careened towards the Earth.

"No. Not that I know of," she admitted after a minute, a look of sadness momentarily crossing her gaze.

Neal sighed as he walked forward and leaned his back against the railing. "Oh."

A moment of awkward silence passed between them before they spoke again.

"Um. Prairie?" Neal asked.

"Yes?"

"Um… You told me that your older sister was Ciel right? And that a long time ago she led the reploids against the humans of Neo Arcadia to freedom?"

Prairie nodded.

"I'm not sure how much is true, but I had heard that a legendary reploid clad in red armor with golden hair helped her in her goal to find an alternative source of energy to end the conflict. Is that true as well?"

Prairie nodded again.

"Well, I'm just spitballing here, but… did your big sister… fall in _love_ with that legendary reploid?"

Prairie sighed as she looked off into the distance.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Neal said, realizing he had touched on a dicey subject. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Prairie shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she said, the sad look in her eyes gone. "But, as for your question, I'm not entirely sure, but from what I could tell, I can pretty much guess that sis cared about Zero very much."

"Zero? From the Maverick and Elf Wars _prior_?"

Prairie nodded.

"I see," Neal responded. "Um. Do you think I could ask you one more question?"

"Sure," Prairie replied. "What is it?"

"If it isn't too much trouble," Neal started. "Do you think you could tell me whatever _happened_ to Zero? The history texts I've read could very well have been doctored to suit the human government's needs, so I'm not really sure what the _truth_ is in this world anymore."

Prairie sighed as she looked up to the sky. Her mind slowly drifted back to a different time. One where her name wasn't even Prairie, but when she was still a little girl named Alouette.

"It was toward the end of the Second Maverick War. Area Zero, the last of the world's nature at the time, had been saved. But then… Weil, the ruler of Neo Arcadia, had sent the Ragnarok, a space station of unbelievable destructive power, on a crash course with Area Zero. Zero went up into space to stop Weil's plan from succeeding."

Prairie started to cry, and Neal was about to implore her to stop, but she continued to tell her tale regardless.

"Zero had managed to defeat Weil, but the Ragnarok continued on a direct crash course with Area Zero. As the Ragnarok was about to hit Earth's atmosphere, its speed was about to get to the point where Zero couldn't Trans back to the base if he didn't leave. Then… That's when Weil fused himself to the core of the Ragnarok, becoming a sinful abomination to match his twisted heart. Zero realized that if he destroyed the core, that the Ragnarok would break up in atmospheric reentry, and Area Zero would be saved."

As Prairie retold her tale, Neal felt as though the events of centuries past were folding out before him. For once in his life, he felt like he was actually being told the _truth. _The _whole _truth.

"Zero… He defeated Weil just before the Ragnarok entered Earth's atmosphere. The sight of it burning up through the night sky will forever be engraved into my memory."

Neal never realized just how deep the world's problems went. It was as though he had become a piece in a centuries long game of chess. He was far from the king, making him either a Pawn or a Bishop.

"As sis looked into the sky, in her heart she believed that Zero would return someday. So, she made it her life's work to create a better world for him to return to."

"So then… Zero… he…" Neal started, not knowing what to say.

"We were never able to find his body," Prairie said. "In the midst of the Ranarok's wreckage, all we were able to find was Zero's helmet and a few pieces of his armor."

"And then the Ragnarok fragments became the Model Ws that have plagued the world _today_," Neal concluded. "Thus, connects the events of the past to the present across the expanse of time."

"That's correct. After that, well, you know the rest," Prairie finished.

Neal sighed as he looked up to the heavens. "Hearing all of that, it really brings things into perspective doesn't it?"

Prairie nodded as she followed his gaze. "I like to think that's true."

The two of them continued to watch the skies for a long time before the silence between them was broken.

"So… What was Zero like?" Neal asked.

"Well," Prairie said. "He was strong, courageous, and most of all he never gave in," she said with a smile. "It makes me glad that I got to know someone like him."

"Sounds like a really great guy," Neal replied. "I wish I could be more like him. All _I _ever do is cause trouble for other people," he said as his shoulers slumped, a dejected look on his face.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Prairie said putting a hand on his shoulder. "You and Zero are more alike then you think."

"Really? How so?" he asked averting his gaze from the ground.

"During that attack at Legion, and again when you faced the four Mega Men," Prairie recalled, "you never gave up. You kept getting back up and you kept fighting."

Neal looked up to the sky upon hearing those words. "Zero. I wish I could've met you. You lived, fought, and died for so many, but hardly anyone really knows what you've done." He clenched his right fist and raised it to the heavens. "Zero. I swear that I will continue fighting. I won't give up, no matter what, and once all of this is said and done, I hope that when you look down on us from wherever you are, I hope that you'll be smiling."

Prairie smiled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Neal. Thank you. I'm sure that Zero appreciates your words."

Neal turned back to Prairie and looked her in the eyes. "Prairie. You haven't slept since my transformation, have you?"

Prairie regretfully shook her head. "I've been doing a lot of work lately. Organizing troops is no small feat."

"I'm sorry," Neal apologized. "But I promise this to you_ too_. Even if I have to die trying, I'll bring this world its _true _peace, and maybe _you_ can live a normal life too," he said in confidence.

"Thank you Neal," Prairie said with a slight curtsey. "I'm thankful I was able to meet you."

"But, Prairie, can you promise _me_ something?" Neal asked as he took a few steps away from the railing and walked back towards the hangar.

"What is it?" Prairie asked.

Neal turned around and faced Prairie, a smile on his face. "Promise me you won't die before _I _do? If you died before I brought this world its true peace, I might not be able to continue fighting."

A slight blush formed on her cheeks as Neal continued to walk away. For a brief moment, she thought that she had seen a little bit of Zero in his eyes the moment he asked that of her.

"I promise Neal," Prairie said as she walked after him.

Neal smiled as he motioned for her to take the lead. "Thank you Prairie. I promise I won't fail you again."

As the two of them walked back to the hangar, Neal spoke up again. "Oh, Prairie, could you make me one _more_ promise?"

"What is it?" Prairie asked.

"Promise me you'll get some sleep," Neal answered. "I can't stand to see you shuffling around like that."

"What about the _others_?" Prairie asked smugly, a mischevious look in her eyes.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, them too," Neal said hiding his blush.

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack – Metallic Soul**

Fleuve and his assistants were working slowly and steadily, scanning every aspect of Model E they could in order to determine what had caused Neal's sudden and violent transformation. They'd done everything from molecular scans to electrono-graphs, CAT, neutron grafting, template prognoses, complete circuit diagnostics, and even carbon dating. So far no trace of the dark energy that had made itself known yesterday could be found.

As Model E floated in the glass cylinder placed in the middle of the lab, a multitude of wires and sensors stuck onto him, Fleuve was looking over another set of test results that had been taken. As with every other test prior, no real evidence was yieldable that Model E was any different then when he had been scanned the _first _time.

With a silent hiss, the metal doors opened and closed. Neal, wearing only a black T-shirt and blue jeans entered and walked over to Fleuve's side. "Fleuve, how is the patient."

"Oh Neal! You'r up!" Fleuve said in surprise. Like a lot of other people on the ship, he too looked sleep-deprived. Of course, he probably didn't get the opportunity to work with Biometal every day, so it was possibly his scientist's _pride_ keeping him going.

Either _that_ or coffee. You could never really tell with the scientific crowd.

Neal nodded. "Have you found anything out?"

"No. Not at all," Fleuve said sadly. "We've scanned Model E from corner to corner, inside and out, and haven't found anything _different _from when we _first _scanned him."

Neal looked into the tank and met Model E's 'eyes'. Model E immediately turned away, probably in guilt over seeing his Chosen One in such a beaten-up state. "Fleuve. Could you run a couple tests on _me_?"

"Hm? Why?" Fleuve asked, looking up from his test results.

"I don't think Model E is the problem," Neal said as he walked to the center of the lab and put his hand on the side of the tank. "I think _I'm _what caused the transformation."

"But how can that be?" Fleuve asked again. "It isn't like you on your _own _have the capabilities of a Mega Man."

"True, I don't, but that monster, that _thing_, it came from inside me," Neal said as he looked at his own reflection on the outside of the tank. "I'm not sure exactly how, but we can't rule out the possibility that some part of _me _caused it."

Fleuve sighed as he put the test results on the desk in the corner. "Very well then. Get in the capsule. We'll see if we can find anything."

Neal nodded as he stepped into one of the capsules at the far end of the lab. After the glass casing whooshed shut in front of him, he felt himself being leaned backward until he was staring at the ceiling. The next moment a U-shaped metal bar moved from its position at his feet to above his head. The next moment a green wall of light was formed under the scanners, and it slowly moved down the length of his body, taking in every aspect of his being as it repetitively scanned him.

After a few minutes, the capsule rose back into its upright position, and the glass casing slid out in front of him. "So. Did you find anything?" he asked as he stepped out of the capsule and stretched his limbs.

"No results were yielded from you _either_," Fleuve admitted as he looked over the results of Neal's scan. "It's like whatever energy _caused _that transformation was simply… expelled from your system, or is just very well hidden."

"Well that's kinda what it felt like," Neal said rubbing the sides of his head. "Oh, one more thing. Were you able to get an accurate read of that card I gave you the other day."

"Oh that? I finished my work on it before… you know," he said as he walked over to a table with a glass dome and a blue grid-pattern on the bottom. "I was able to confirm that it is still functional, and is still perfectly compatible with any of today's computer systems."

"What is it?" Neal asked as he looked at the mysterious blue card.

"It appears to be some kind of all-access pass," Fleuve stated. "Its origins seem to stem from Neo Arcadia, the old haven for humans during the first and second Maverick wars."

"Ah. I see," Neal said as he looked at the card. "So what does it do?"

"I'm not completely sure, but I would theorize that it acts as a key card against most security systems," Feleuve explained. "It might be possible to use it to bypass electronic security systems, but for its coding to be reactivated, I would need the help of someone with an intimate knowledge of Neo Arcadian technology. However records of that time's technology are far and few imbetween."

"_Really_?" Neal said, looking into the tank at Model E. "Well, when Model E still had a body, _he _lived in Neo Arcadia. I'm sure he could be a big help."

"But we have yet to finish testing him," Fleuve replied. "We're not sure what would happen if he's taken out of that containment field."

"Fleuve. How long have I been asleep?" Neal asked flatly.

"Three days," Fleuve replied.

_No wonder I'm so hungry, _Neal thought to himself before speaking again. "Then if you weren't able to find anything after the three days of non-stop testing, wouldn't you think it'd be safe to let him out of?" he asked.

After a minute, Fleuve sighed as he opened the tank. "Very well. Here."

The glass capsule rose away from the floor with a miss as fresh air entered the air-tight chamber. After a minute, Model E floated over to Neal. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"I am," Neal replied. "I'd like to continue working with you. Is that okay?"

" . . . Sure," Model E replied after a tense moment.

"Good," Neal said as he snatched Model E out of the air. "Now let's take a look at that card key."

Neal placed Model E down in front of the lab table with the card key on it. After a few minutes of just looking at it, Model E turned to Neal. "I can't activate it as I am now. I'd need to access its _own _programming in order to get it working again."

"I'm guessing since you don't have hands, that we'll have to do _that_," Neal replied, placing a certain emphasis on the last word.

"That?" Fleuve asked. "What is _that_?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Neal asked as he took Model E in his hands. "Megamerge!"

Upon seeing the flash of light, Fleuve's lab assistants screamed as they ran out the room, thinking they'd have to deal with the white-armored monster again. When the light cleared, Neal stood in his Megamerged form, his red/pink armor contrasting to the white walls of the lab.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about you transforming into that _other _form when you megamerge," Fleuve replied in relief. _Still, now that Neal's awake, I'll need to ask him what _he _felt before his transformation._

"Okay Model E," Neal said as he picked up the card between his fingers. "What do I need to do?"

"_Turn your head a bit," _Model E said. _"I need to see what I have to work with here." _

Neal did as he was asked, letting Model E use his eyes to take in all the lab's features. After a minute, he felt Model E bring him to a stop.

"_There. Take those link wires and attach them to the sides of the card," _Model E instructed. After Neal walked over to one of the computers and took a pair of connective wires and hooked them to the upper right and lower left corners. _"Now, start up the computer and I'll take care of the rest."_

Neal booted up the computer, letting the computer link itself to the card's circuitry. After the screen came up, Neal let his arms relax at his sides. After a moment, he felt his arms moving on their own accord, his hands typing in various combinations of keys as Model E looked at the screen with his eyes. After several minutes of activating old code and lining new ones through the card's systems until a green symbol of **N.A. **appeared on the monitor.

**Neal activated the All-Access Card.**

"Model E was that really necessary?" Neal asked as the message flared across his visor.

Model E sighed. _"Just doing something different."_

In a flash of light Neal fell out of his megamerged state and was back in his regular clothing. "So what exactly is this thing supposed to do?"

"_From what I can tell, if you run it through any card reader or under any scanner, it'll plant a type of bug in the computer systems that will allow you to get past any security measure," _Model E explained.

"Fleuve, do you know if there's anything else like this in circulation?" Neal asked.

"I'm not completely sure, and even if there was, it wouldn't be as small as _that_," Fleuve said pointing to the All-Access card. "If anything, it would have to be as large as your arm."

Neal pocketed his prize with a smile on his face as he headed for the door. "Now all I have to do is get that Droid Popper that Vent and Aile owe me and I'll be set."

"Droid Popper?" Fleuve asked. "Weren't those things made illegal _years _ago?"

"I'm sorry, but I've probably said too much," Neal said before running out the lab door.

At that moment, Fleuve thought to himself, _I forgot to ask him about before his transformation. Still, I suppose it's work for another day._

* * *

In the Grand Nuage's viewing deck, Vent and Aile watched the landscape pass below as the airship flew through the skies.

"Man. That was one hell of a battle yesterday huh?" Vent asked as he leaned against a wall.

"I'm still not sure what happened, but hope the others are okay," Aile replied. "Ashe, you, and I are plenty experienced, but that Grey kid, Pandora, and Neal took most of the damage during that last fight."

"We'll just have to wait this out and see," Vent replied. "But still, the fact that the other four Mega Men are working together is a little unnerving."

The next moment the metal doors slid open, and Neal walked into the room and headed for the window. "Hey guys. You two okay from yesterday?"

"Mostly," Aile replied. "How are _you _though?"

Neal put a hand to his throat and rubbed it a bit. "Throat's still a bit sore from yesterday. Although I don't remember everything that happened. Head's still a little fuzzy."

"Yeah, that's understandable," Vent replied.

"I have to say though," Aile started, "fighting against you like that felt the same as when we fought against Serpent."

"I'm sure it was," Neal said. _Now isn't the right time. I'll just thank them later._

"So is there something you wanted to talk about, or did you just come here to look out the window?" Aile asked casually motioning to the windows.

"I've actually come to talk to you regarding a _previous_ article of business we had discussed prior," Neal started. "I seem to recall you two promising me a new Droid Popper after I lost my last on."

Vent and Aile suddenly froze. "Oh. You remember that?"

"Yes. I do," Neal said flatly. "Remember, your motto was 'We take anything anywhere, legal or otherwise'. Was it not?"

Vent sighed. "Ugh. Fine. I'll get on it."

"Thank you," Neal said smugly. "Oh, and sorry about the other day," he said not-so-smugly. "I'm sorry if I caused any lasting injury."

"Yeah, my back's still sore-" Vent said before Aile clamped his mouth shut.

"It's okay," Aile said as she struggled against Vent's flailing. "After all, you didn't mean to do it on purpose."

Neal nodded. "Oh, by the way, who were those grey-haired characters. I kinda remember them slowing me down during my little _rampage _and I wanted to thank them for it."

"You mean Ashe and Grey?" Aile asked. "Well, they left a half hour after you woke up. You must've missed them by a few minutes."

Neal shrugged his shoulder. "Oh well, I'll just thank them the next time I see them. See you later," he said as he left the room.

A moment later Vent finally managed to wrestle Aile's hand from his mouth. "Why'd you stop me mid-sentence?"

"You were about to say something uncalled for," Aile said sternly. "He feels bad enough about what happened _already_. You don't need to bring it back up."

Vent sighed as he looked out the window. "If Giro were still here, he probably could've stopped Neal sooner."

"Well the fact is he isn't," Aile rebuttled. "We can't afford to waste the life he gave us either."

* * *

Pandora sat up in her bed, looking out the window and watching the clouds roll by as the steady hum of monitoring equipment filled the room.

A moment later the metal doors hissed open, and Neal walked in with a tray of food in his hands. "Hey Pandora. I brought you some lunch."

"Thanks Neal," Pandora replied as the metal tray on the side of the bed folded out in front of her. "I was getting a little tired of the hospital food anyway."

Neal set the lunch down on the table and took a seat on the edge of Pandora's bed. "Um, listen. Once again, I'm sorry."

Pandora looked away from the window and faced Neal. "About what?"

"About everything that happened yesterday," Neal said sadly. "When I was still in my berserker mode, I nearly totaled your body again."

Pandora took Neal's hands in her own and looked him in the eye. "Neal, it's okay, I forgive you. So please don't beat yourself up over it any longer."

Neal sighed as he turned his gaze to the window, away from Pandora. "I'm sorry, but it's just that… I had _no _control of my actions back then. The feeling of that dark power running through my body… It was terrifying."

Pandora let go of Neal's hands and looked out the window as well, watching the clouds pass by. "Do you remember anything. From when you had transformed?"

"Only a little bit," Neal said with a sigh. "After I fought the four evil Mega Men, I completely black out. After that, I felt like my body was on fire… And then everything turned black."

"Black?" Pandora asked.

"I'm not completely sure how to describe it," Neal said. "All I remember was being surrounded on every side by this dark… _stuff_. I was completely trapped, and I was afraid I'd be there forever."

Pandora turned away from the window and back to Neal. "What happened next?"

"After what felt like forever," Neal started, "I remember a voice calling out to me. When I heard it, I moved forward, and then a bright light enveloped me."

"What happened after that?" Pandora asked.

"When the light cleared, I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me," Neal finished. "After that, the burning sensation disappeared, but I blacked out again a moment later."

Pandora nodded. A few moments later she lifted her spoon and began to eat her lunch. "Neal. I want to thank you again."

"For what?" Neal asked.

Pandora giggled a bit, and being _able_ to do so felt good after so long. "For saving me from my own darkness. I'd given up on being free a long time ago, but you gave me the courage to believe again. So thank you."

"Nah. I didn't really do that much-" Neal said, but was cut off mid-sentence as he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his waist.

"Thank you Neal," Pandora said as she sat back down in her bed after letting go.

"Well um… I'll just leave you to your lunch," he said as he got up from the bed and headed to the door.

* * *

That evening after the sun had set. The Grand Nuage flew through the skies silently, the clouds parting as its hull cut through them. Standing alone on the roof was Neal, his trench coat flowing in the wind behind him as he looked up into the night sky.

As the wind too made his hair flow back, the door to the hangar opened, and Prairie stepped out onto the roof. "Oh, Neal, I didn't know you'd be here."

Neal turned around and saw her coming over to the railing at the front of the ship. "Oh, Commander Prairie. Sorry, I didn't think anyone else came up here."

"Hey, when we're alone you don't have to be so formal with me," Prairie said smiling as she stood by the railing and looked at the stars as well.

"Right. Sorry," Neal apologized.

"For a _guy_, you sure do say _sorry _a lot," Prairie said jokingly, poking a bit of fun at the_ fledgling _MegaMan.

Neal huffed as he turned his gaze to the starboard side. "Why's that such a big surprise?"

"Sorry, sorry," Prairie giggled half-heartedly.

"Prairie, you seem down. Haven't you gotten any sleep yet?" Neal asked.

"Not yet I haven't, but I will right after this," she said looking back at the stars.

Neal looked back up at the stars too before talking again. "These stars. Are they the same as back then?"

"Hm?" Prairie asked, trying to decipher the meaning of his question. "Oh, yeah, I suppose they are," she answered after the meaning dawned on her.

For the next few minutes, Neal and Prairie continued to look at the stars together. As the clouds rolled around the ship, the moon's light shone onto the two of them.

Prairie was about to turn in for the night when a sudden gust of wind rushed by her. "Oh no! My hat!" she cried as her commander's hat was whisked away into the night sky.

"Don't worry! I've got it!" Neal said as he stepped onto the railing. The next moment he launched himself into the night sky in a mighty leap. Just as he was about to begin falling, he plucked Prairie's hat out of the air before barely grabbing onto the railing.

"Neal!" Prairie cried as he nearly fell off the ship, but quickly pulled himself back up.

"Here's your hat back," Neal said casually as he placed it on top of Prairie's head. "Try not to lose it, okay?"

"How can you be so _relaxed _about this?" Prairie asked as she adjusted the brim of her hat. "You nearly fell off the ship _again_, and there wasn't going to be an _ocean_ to break your fall this time either."

"Well, I guess it's because you've done so much for me, and I figure getting your hat back for you is the _least _I could do," he replied with a smile.

"Neal…" Prairie said as she looked up into his eyes.

"Um… Prairie…" Neal said as he felt the atmosphere suddenly change around them.

Prairie slowly took a step towards him and looked up into Neal's eyes. After a tense minute, Prairie nervously got up on her toes and leaned toward him. At the same time, Neal felt his heart racing, his face heating up, and his palms getting sweaty.

Just as Prairie's face was an inch from his, her eyes suddenly drooped shut, and she fell forward. Neal quickly caught her in his arms to stop her from falling. When he looked at her face, he realized that she had suddenly fallen asleep.

"Oh… Well… I guess the lack of sleep has finally gotten to her," he nervously said as he looked around. After an awkward minute he picked Prairie up bridal-style and headed back for the hangar.

After going down in the elevator, he realized that probably everyone _else _in the Grand Nuage was asleep as well. Or at least that would be assumed since the whole place was as quiet as a graveyard.

"I guess the lack of sleep finally got to everyone _else _also," Neal said as he looked around.

After a minute or so, Neal headed back into the elevator.

* * *

The metal doors to his room silently hissed open before he entered. He silently walked over to his bed and laid Prairie down on top of the covers and fluffed up one of his pillows before placing it under her head.

"_Hey Neal. Why did you bring Prairie in _here_?" _Model E asked.

"I don't know where Prairie's room is, and since I didn't want to wake her up, I figured the best thing I could do was just bring her here," Neal whispered.

"_But where are _you _going to sleep then?" _Model E asked, a little sceptical at the current situation.

Neal looked over to the corner of the room and found a lone chair. "I guess I'll just sleep there since the top bunk's mattress is in storage," he answered as he walked over and took a seat. After removing his trench coat and placing it over himself like a blanket, he felt himself fell asleep, his own exhaustion finally catching up to him as well.

* * *

**Just a little filler chapter before the story progresses any further.**

**Also, before anyone says anything, Prairie's office and her bedroom are two _different_ places, and Neal had only been to the prior, and doesn't know about the latter.**

**P.S.  
As of now, all FanFiction are to be on a college-based hiatus.**


	13. The Road Away

**Well folks, thanks for reading this story so far. **

**I promise this story will take a new direction in future chapters, focusing more on Ashe, Grey, Aile, and Vent. For now, just be patient with me.**

* * *

The next morning in the Grand Nuage, Prairie felt herself finally waking up to the new day, fully rested and rejuvenated. As soon as she opened her eyes, she quickly realized that she wasn't in _her_ room. She suddenly remembered that she'd fallen asleep on the roof last night, and that everything after that was a blank. "Where am I?" she asked herself as she got up from the bed.

After looking around, she caught sight of Neal sitting in the corner, using his trench coat as a blanket while he slept.

"Neal must've taken me here after I fell asleep last night," she said to herself. A moment later she remembered what she had almost done, and was thankful that she fell asleep when she did as a blush crept acrfoss her face.

"_Morning sleeping beauty," _a voice said from behind her.

"Eep!" Prairie _eeped _as she suddenly turned around, but calmed down when she saw that it was only Model E floating there. "Oh, good morning Model E."

"_Morning," _he replied back.

"Um… Do you think you could tell me why I'm here?" she asked.

"_Oh Neal said something about not knowing where your room was, and since he didn't want to wake you up and ask, he thought it would be best to just put you down in his bed," _Model E answered. _"Of course sleeping in a chair in the corner can't be good for _his_ joints _either_."_

At that moment the images from last night flooded to her memory again, causing her blush to increase further. "I can't believe I did that last night. I mean, that normally isn't like me, but now…"

"_Well when you stop to think about it, you're still a teenage girl after all," _Model E said as he floated over to her and set himself down on the pillow, like a parent about to give their young charge "the talk". _"Neal's the closest thing you'll ever have to a normal boyfriend, so when you look at the facts, they make sense."_

"But I've only just met him," Prairie said. "I mean, at the most we've only known each other for a week."

"_I think what you're experiencing is called 'love at first sight'," _Model E explained. _"I mean, _I've _only known him for a week _myself_, but I can already tell he's taken a liking to you."_

At that moment Prairie blushed, but quickly shook it off. "So we've opened up to each other a bit. I don't think he'd _like_ me like that after a few little chats."

"_Oh I'd say they're _more _then a few little chats," _Model E said. _"Remember, both you _and _him lost people important to you, and to the same person no less. Plus he isn't ignorant like _most _people in this world are, so that's a plus for you too."_

Prairie sighed. "Maybe you're right. But still… I'm not completely sure about my feelings right now."

"_I know you've got a job to _do_ right now, but what about _after_?" _Model E asked. _"I mean, you don't want to be the commander of the Guardians _forever _do you?"_

"Well I've _already _been doing it for a couple centuries," Prairie admitted awkwardly.

"_I'm just saying to keep yourself open to him. Don't burn any bridges you may regret burning later," _Model E explained, knowing that if he had knownhis own advise those centuries ago, things would've turned out differently between him and the Resistance. _"Plus you wouldn't want _Pandora_ to steal him away from you, would you?"_

At that moment Prairie remembered the former-evil Mega Man, her hands balling into fists as an image of her linking arms with Neal flashed through her mind. "Wait? Am I getting jealous?" she suddenly asked herself, realizing that was in fact what was happening.

"_Could be," _Model E said. _"But hey, I'm just a floating piece of metal. I'll let you make your own decisions."_

"Thank you Elpizo, I mean, Model E," Prairie said with a slight bow before getting up to leave. As she neared the door, she hesitated for a moment, then walked over to Neal in the corner. She gently brushed some hair away from his face. After looking around to make sure no one was at the door, she slowly leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, saying a silent 'thank you' before heading out.

"_Neal, you have excellent taste," _Model E said contentedly as he sat himself down on the pillow, watching his Chosen One. _"I'm sure if Ciel and Zero were still around, they would approve."_

* * *

Several hours later.

Neal yawned as he drowsily opened his eyes. As he got up, he bent his back backwards, earning several audible cracking sounds that could be heard on the other side of the wall. As he stretched his neck, it cracked several times too, all of his muscles stiff from sleeping in a _chair_.

But, in the end, making sure Prairie had gotten a good night of sleep was well worth the physical abuse on his part. Even though he'd probably have to go to Rose for a couple days' worth of physical therapy, but that's beside the point. "Morning Model E," he yawned as he stretched his arms, retching on the inside as several loud popping noises issued from his shoulders.

"_Morning _Romeo_," _Model E said, his voice sounding like he were smiling.

Neal flushed crimson as he bolted up from his chair. "Floating piece of metal say _what_?" he demanded. At that instant several _more_ popping noises came from his lower spine too. _God _damn_! I would've been better sleeping on the _floor_! _he thought to himself.

"_Don't be coy with me. We both saw how much that girl likes you," _Model E said smugly.

"Her name's _Prairie_! Not _that girl_!" he cried, but slapped his hands over his mouth as a tinge of red graced his features, realizing what he had just said.

"See. You _do _like her," Model E said smugly.

Neal stretched all the cricks out of himself before throwing his trench coat over his shoulders. "Model E. Can we talk about this later? There's something I need to discuss with Prairie."

"_If you want me to give you some privacy, I'm more then happy to oblige," _Model E replied.

Neal simply stuffed the chatty paperweight into his pocket and walked out the room.

_Chatty paperweight. Been nothing but trouble for me since I _got _the darned thing._

"_I can hear your thoughts you know."_

_FUCK!_

* * *

A while after breakfast, Prairie had made her way back to the bridge. Upon entering, she saw that everyone was in better spirits then they were yesterday. It was obviously due to the fact that last night everyone had gotten a good night's sleep since the "incident". As she took a seat in her chair, she pressed a button on the control panel and spun it around, facing the wild blue yonder before the Grand Nuage.

"Status report on Inner Peace's current activities," she asked as she saw a few tiny mechaniloids repairing the monitors in the room.

"The majority of the citizens have been taken into account," Gardenia replied. "We're still waiting for an updated field report, but we should be getting word from them any minute now."

"Excellent," Prairie said. "Tulip. Current status on the media?"

"Nothing too concrete yet," Tulip replied as she typed onto her keyboard. "I've found out that the mayor of Inner Peace is slated to make an official statement some time later today."

"I see," Prairie said, nodding her head. "Marguerite. Security details?"

"Most of the selected cameras were knocked out during the fight," she stated. "A few are still intact, but none of them managed to get a good look at the visible half of Neal's face."

"Good. Keep me informed," Prairie said as she got up from her seat. "If any of you need me, I'll be in my office."

"Yes, Commander," the three operators replied before going back to work.

* * *

As Prairie looked out her office window, a knocking sound came from the other side of the door. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me, Neal. Can I come in?" he asked from the other side of the door.

She quickly shook off the blush that had form the memories of the two of them last night. "Yes, Neal. You can come in."

The door opened with a silent hiss. After Neal walked through, the door closing behind him, he took a seat in front of Prairie. "Prairie. There's something I need to say."

"What is it Neal?" she asked, putting her hands on the desk.

"I've come to a decision," Neal said as he took the seat across from her. "I'm leaving the Grand Nuage."

At that moment a lump of fear formed in Prairie's throat. "Neal if this is about last night I-"

She was suddenly stopped when Neal put his hands on hers. "Prairie, this isn't about last night. This is about the safety of the crew and the other Mega Men," he said as he looked into her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Prairie asked as she hunched her shoulders, using her coat's collar to hide the blush forming on her cheeks from Neal holding her hands.

"Before the incident, the four evil Mega Men came after me in an attempt to eliminate me from the Game of Destiny," Neal explained. "Shortly after, Vent, Aile, Ashe, and Grey all appeared. _All _appeared," he said with added emphasis. "If the four of them had simply been bait, then everyone could've easily been overwhelmed by a mechaniloid ambush or something even worse."

"But uh- Why are you leaving the Grand Nuage then?" Prairie asked, Neal's hands still holding hers.

"Because if I leave here for other areas, then the enemy would be forced to divide their forces," Neal explained. "If everyone's in the same place, they'll know where we are, but if one of us, the _one _being _me_, leaves, then if they want to get to me, they'll have to divide their forces accordingly."

"I see what you mean," Prairie responded. "For all we know, the enemy could have access to large amounts of troops, so if we scatter our forces, then they wouldn't be able to hit all of us at the same time unless they split up."

"_My thoughts exactly,"_ Model E said as he floated out of Neal's pocket.

"Okay then. I'll begin the plans immediately," Prairie said. "And um… Neal?"

"Yes?" Neal asked.

"I'm sorry if I put you in an awkward position last night," she said in apology. "I'd normally never do something like that. I don't know what came over me."

"Hey uh- It's okay," Neal said. "We all make a lapse in judgment once in a while."

"Yes... Except that _wasn't_ a lapse in judgment," Prairie said nervously, meeting Neal's eyes.

"Uhhhhh-" Neal _uhhhhhed _as his cheeks heated up. A moment later the steel door behind them opened with a hiss, Vent and Aile walking in.

"Ah Commander there you-" Aile said, but stopped as a smug grin crossed her face. "Oh, I didn't know you had _company,_" she said smugly, noticing that Prairie and Neal were holding each other's hands.

At that moment the two of them separated, Prarie trying to hide the blush that had formed on her features. "W-Wait this isn't what it looks like!" Neal panicked.

"Hey, it's perfectly natural for a guy your age," Aile said condescendingly as she pat Neal on the head.

"But still, your _commanding officer_? Pretty bold," Vent added with a grin as he poked his head into the doorway, only for Aile to jab him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Guys, all this aside, there's something I need to ask you," Neal said.

* * *

"You want to borrow our old Giro Express motorcycle?" Vent and Aile both asked after Neal's explanation.

"Yeah. I've decided to set out from here," Neal concluded. "If I do so, then it'll be more difficult for the enemy to attack us en masse."

"_I can see where you're coming from,"_ Model Z said as he floated up. _"They can't get _all_ of us if we aren't all in the same place."_

"But why our old motorcycle?" Vent asked. "Wouldn't it be better for you to get a new one? You know, one designed for off-roading?"

"I'd already considered that as an option this morning," Neal said as he put a hand to his chin. "I remember that Atlas had a large, _personal _army of galleons and all-terain vehicles at her disposal the first time I met her. That's an indication that whoever we're up against has a hand in Legion's affairs, and if that's the case, a hold of Legion's information network."

"Ah, so you're afraid of giving them another way of tracking you," Aile finished. "But our old motorcycle is just _that_, old. It won't last too long off-road in its current state."

"_I'd considered that too as a contingency," _Model E said. _"However, we can't risk Legion tracking our purchases immediately, so he best way I see is to salvage some good-quality parts from a scrap yard or something along those lines. After all, people throw perfectly good stuff away all the time that doesn't even have a _scratch_ on it__. I'm sure a few off-road parts aren't out of the question."_

"If that's the case, then I may know someone who can help you," Vent said. "I'll contact Ashe at the Hunter's Guild and see if she can show you to The Scrapyard. We may be able to salvage enough items to make a cohesively-working off-road machine."

"If that's the case use the Transerver's reserved emergency channel and go there in person," Prairie ordered. "We can't risk the enemy tracing a Trans Message and set up an ambush."

"Yes ma'am," Vent said with a salute as he ran out the door.

"Aile. I need you to take Neal to the your old storage facility and grab Giro's retired motorcycle," Prairie instructed. "I normally wouldn't suggest that since…" she paused as her voice trailed off. "But that vehicle has already been registered, and we'll be able to put it out in the field again without being immediately discovered."

"Ah, right Commander," Aile said as she went to the door. "C'mon Neal. Let's get going."

"Ah, right Aile," he said as he got up. "Just wait for me in the transerver room. I'll be there in a second," he said as he stopped mid-stride.

"Alright. Just don't keep me waiting," she concluded as she ran down the hall.

"Okay Aile," Neal said as the door closed behind him. "Prairie. Before I get ready to leave, there's something I need to say to you."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I'm just going to come out and say it," Neal said after taking a deep breath. "I like you, but I don't know if it's _love _or _infatuation_, so until I can get my feelings sorted out a bit… could you give me a bit of time?

Prairie's blush began to die down after that statement was uttered and she regained her composure. "Yes Neal. Take all the time you need."

"Thank you," Neal said as he headed for the door. He raised his hand to open it, but he stopped short. He quickly walked over to Prairie and took a deep breath, which caused Prairie to think Neal was about to do something. He held his arms out as he moved forward to hug her, but couldn't bring himself to go through with it, so he dumbly stuck his hand out instead. After a tense moment, Prairie shook Neal's hand before he left. "Uh, bye," he said nervously as he ran off.

As soon as the metal door hissed shut, Prairie slumped backwards onto her desk, exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding in. _This is all happening so fast. I mean, this kind of thing was never an issue for me, but now that someone's showing an interest in me, I'm just not sure of what to do._

Her thoughts drifted for a moment, a blush forming on her cheeks as her imagination began to run away from her. _A nice, cozy room. A soundproof office. Doors that can't be unlocked from the outside. Blinds. A big desk. Lots of possibilities… _

A moment later she desperately shook the blushing off her face. _ACK! Prairie! Don't think like that! If Ciel were still here she'd… GAH! I knew I should've had her give me "the talk" that one time! Now I can't keep my thoughts straight!_

The blush on her cheeks began to recede to a degree as she took a seat. As she looked out the window, one last thought crossed her mind. _But if it were with Neal, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. _At that instant her blush returned, with a vengeance._ EEEK! Prairie! Stop thinking about him that way! He just said he isn't sure of himself yet! Get a grip girl! You'll scare him away if this keeps up._

* * *

In the Transerver Room at the Hunter's Guild camp, Ashe and Grey were busy doing their own thing, enjoying the relative peace, however both of them were still sore frm the incident a couple days ago. At the moment Ashe was listening to some strange alien music on a device she had come across in the Scrapyard a while back, while Grey was simply fiddling with one of those chain-link puzzles where you need to separate the links without breaking the puzzle itself.

At that moment, the Transerver flashed to life before Vent stepped out. As he straightened his clothes and fixed his hair, he turned towards the somewhat-surprised Ashe and Grey. "Hey Ashe. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Should I give you two some privacy?" Grey said jokingly, only to be smacked upside the head by Ashe.

"We're just friends, so don't joke like that!" she said angrily. "Anyway, Vent, what can I do for you?"

"The new kid's setting out soon, and we need to salvage some parts from The Scrapyard," Vent explained. "Do you think you could get in touch with James and see if he can't help us find some off-road parts? Maybe a few off-market extras?"

"Off-road parts and off-market extras huh? That'll be a pretty tall order to fill," Ashe said. "Why don't you just _buy_ him an off-road vehicle?"

"We don't want to raise any red flags," Vent explained. "It's better this way."

Ashe stretched her back as she got up from her seat, wondering why they didn't just risk it. "Okay then, fine. However before the new kid sets out, I'd like to at least _meet_ him. See who I'm dealing with exactly."

"I'm uh, sure that can be arranged," Vent answered.

"C'mon Grey. Let's go," Ashe said as she grabbed the back of his collar.

"But I'm not done with this puzzle yet," he protested as he tried to pull the puzzle apart.

"Forget the kid games. We're going _hunting_," Ashe said as pulled him along. At the same time, Vent sighed at the lame joke just made.

* * *

At the same time in Inner Peace, Aile and Neal had transported into a back alley in the midst of the industrial district. Very few people hung around that district as it was, since there was a dedicated mechaniloid patrol squadron monitoring the whole place, and the area was mostly used for storage since the _new _industrial district went up.

Aile poked her head out from the alley and looked around. When she was sure no one was around, she motioned for Neal to follow. "Come on. The warehouse is this way."

Neal silently followed behind, the only sound being their shoes clotting against the ground. They eventually came to a small storage warehouse labeled **GE**. Aile quickly pulled out an old card key and opened the door after putting the password into the keypad. After pushing the wave of dust out of the way, she pulled Neal in and closed the door behind her after making sure no one had seen them.

Once the lights turned on, Neal saw that there were a few crates around the area, all with the Giro Express logo on them. At the very least, it'd be easy to find the motorcycle here.

"Come on Neal. Let's get to Giro's old motorcycle and lets go," Aile said as she grabbed a nearby crowbar and started opening crates.

Neal followed suit, and after a moment he came upon a crate containing something motorcycle-shaped covered in a tarp. Once he removed it, he saw a slightly-damaged red motorcycle with a side car. "Aile, I've found it."

Aile came over to his side and helped him pull the vehicle out. "Okay good. Let's see if this thing still works before bringing it to the Grand Nuage's repair shop."

As Aile checked the engine and tires, Neal opened the glove compartment, slightly filled with dust, and pulled something flat and rectangular out. After blowing the dust off of it, he saw that it was an old picture; On it was a blonde guy in a red jacket and tan cargo pants wearing glasses posing for the picture with a pouting boy and an nervous girl in the same outfits, except the shirts were blue. "Aile. I think this belongs to you," he said, passing her the old pic.

Aile looked at the picture before a tear came to her eye. "Th-Thank you Neal," she said before wiping away the tear.

"Aile. I'm sorry I'm taking Giro's motorcycle like this," Neal apologized as he patted some dust from the seat. "I know how much he meant to you. Or, at the very least, guess how much he meant to you."

"It's okay, Neal," Aile said reassuringly. "This bike is just a bike, and Vent and I still have our memories."

"I can tell from the picture this was taken quite a while ago," Neal complimented. "You sure were a cutie weren't you?" he added with a smile. "Bet you got the bigger tips," he added again half-jokingly. For some reason whenever he was at resturants, he tended to give the cute waitresses the bigger tips. Sure it was biased, but at least he was willing to _admit _he was a bit biassed.

"Um," Aile _umed_ at the directness of his comment. "I wouldn't go that far. I mean, one time Giro told me the customers liked my smiling face, but that was a long time ago."

"Don't sell yourself short," Neal said. "You're still cute, but you're just a bit taller now is all."

"Heh, thanks Neal," Aile said as she brushed some hair behind her ear. "Anyway, it seems that even though the outer casing still has a few blast holes in it, that it can still move. The engines intact, though the oil will probably need to be changed."

"What happened anyway?" Neal asked as he looked at the holes. "Did you get attacked by mechaniloids or something?"

Aile looked at him sternly before she sighed and sat on the driver's seat. "It was about five years ago. We were making a delivery in the Outlands when we were suddenly attacked by galleons en route to the rendezvous point. Mine and Vent's motorcycle exploded next to us, sending us and Model X over the cliff."

_This is starting to sound familiar, _Neal thought to himself before it dawned on him. _Wait! This must be when she and Vent got Model X._

"Anyway, when we awoke, we met Prairie for the first time," Aile continued, having not noticed Neal thinking to himself. "We were about to deliver Model X to her, but we were suddenly attacked by a massive snake mechaniloid."

_Aha! So _that's _what those tracks came from, _Neal said as the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together more clearly.

"We wanted to just leave the Biometal and run for it, since the mechaniloids would just chase after us, but Prairie said it was too important to leave behind," Aile spoke. "Then a few moments later, Vent and I had transformed into Mega Man Model X."

"And then you began fighting Serpent's forces," Neal said -though more to himself- in a hushed tone.

"Huh?" Aile asked. "What was that?"

"Ah! Oh! Nothing!" Neal said hastily. _I'll tell the two of them at a later time, but not now. I need to start getting ready to leave, _he thought to himself. _Oh wait, there's still _that _matter I need to take care of. _"Aile, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?" she asked back.

"Okay," Neal said taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and give his brain a little extra oxygen. "I'm not going to give you that '_friend of mine_' speech and get straight to the point. I think I'm beginning to like Prairie more than a friend, but at the same time I think that Pandora has been sending me her own signals. What do I do?"

"Ahhhh," Aile said smugly. "So there _was _something to it when you were holding Prairie's hands this morning."

"Aile. I've been punched, shot at, nearly killed on numerous occasions, and transformed into a raging berserker-lunatic all in the timeframe of a few weeks. You do _not _want to test me," Neal said darkly, narrowing his eyes in a menacing way, although it clearly wasn't working on the older girl.

"Okay, okay, relax," Aile said patting him on the shoulder like a little kid. "In all seriousness, these feelings are normal for a boy your age."

"Normal for a boy who can transform into a warrior from the old Maverick Wars using a talking paperweight?" Neal asked, ignoring the ranting from his Biometal at being called a _talking paperweight_.

"That isn't important!" Aile blurted out, before regaining her composure and began talking again. "What is important is that you're at the age where you'll start noticing that girls aren't _icky_, and that they smell nice, or any number of things. Just give it some time and I'm sure you can sort your feelings out. Like I said, what you're going through is completely normal."

Neal opened his mouth to speak, but Aile cut him short. "And no! I'm not talking about the whole Game of Destiny, try to stay alive, and save the world thing!"

"Um, okay, thanks for the pep talk," Neal said after that conversation. "But it's just that… There are so many things I haven't gotten to do yet, like have a girlfriend, or my first kiss, and other stuff like that. I don't think I'd want to die without getting any of that out of the way first."

"Awwwww," Aile gushed playfully. "You've still got your virgin lips."

"I'm _warning_ you," Neal said darkly as he reached into his jacket for his Biometal, ignoring Aile laughing at his displays and thought it was cute.

* * *

A while later at the top of a mountain overlooking The Scrapyard, Ashe, Grey, and Vent all arrived at a metal-built house carved into the side of the mountain.

"Hey James! You in there!" Ashe asked as she pounded on the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," James said from the other side of the door. "Young'ns have no patience these days," he said as he opened the door. "Oh, it's you Ashe, good to see you again," he said when he saw it was Ashe. "Need another Booster for that highway race thing?"

**Author's Notes:  
James is the guy you meet at the Scrapyard (duh) who gives you the Booster after you get him the three parts.**

"Taller order," Vent said. "Things are starting to get bad again, and we need to set up a friend with a good off-road vehicle."

"Off-roader eh?" James said as he turned around on his cane. "Well if you can pay me, then I can hook you up with pretty much anything. Please, follow me inside," he said, motioning for them to follow him in.

After walking past the door, they saw that James' home was actually an old storehouse that had been station in the mountains before all the snow melted, the older lighting fixtures flickering on and off as they walked through the long corridor. After a minute they suddenly came into a large room, big enough to park the Grand Nuage in. Maybe. It was hard to tell with all the junk in the way.

No pun intended.

"So you said you need off-road parts eh?" James said as he walked down one of the aisles. "People don't really travel through the Outlands that much anymore, but I think I have a few high-powered axels, some all-terrain tires, and maybe a mudflap or two."

"Thanks James," Vent replied. A moment later his Comm started ringing. "Hello?" he asked as he pushed the button on the side of his ear accessory.

"_Vent. This is Aile speaking. Are you anywhere near those parts?"_

"Right on top of them. We just need to find them is all," Vent replied.

"_Well tell whoever's in charge that we're going to need some new plating too. Seems Giro's motorcycle took a bit of a beating before it was moved into storage."_

Vent sighed loudly, knowing this was going to cost quite a bit. "Okay then. I'll get on that too."

"_And remember! You still owe me that Droid Popper!" _Neal suddenly shouted from the other end of the line, causing Vent to cut the volume on his Comm Link in half.

"Okay okay, sheesh. I'll get that Droid Popper for you," Vent grumbled. _We should've just taken our chances with Atlas' mechanlioids._

"Did you happen to say you needed a Droid Popper?" James asked, suddenly standing next to Vent, which caused him to freak out. "From what I can tell, your friend is very practical when he travels."

"Er, yeah," Vent admitted. "He uh, needed to use it to bail us out of a jam a while back, but he kinda lost it afterwards and now I need to get him a new one."

"Ah, I happen to have one in storage," James said with a smile as he led the three of them down one of the aisles. "Found it a few years back but haven't found that much use for it. It's still illegal though, and I can't imagine how your friend could have _gotten_ one in the _first _place, but I suppose if he went through the trouble to get one, he must've needed it for something important."

"You know now that you think about it," Vent said as he put his hand to his chin in thought. "He never _did _tell me why he had it in the first place." Of course before when Giro was still alive, he never really questioned what was in the different boxes they delivered, since their motto was in fact, _We transport anything anywhere, legal or otherwise._

"_And I never will!" _Neal suddenly commented from his end of the Comm link, causing Vent to sigh.

"All that aside," he said as he reached up onto the shelf he finally came to, pulling down the dull brown orange-sized device, "here you go."

"Thanks," Vent said as he reached out for it, only for James to pull it back in defense.

"Oh, now hold on! This is a rare find, and mere _money _won't be enough for an exchange," James said wagging his finger. "If you want this, you'll have to trade something just as rare for it."

**Author's Note:  
I use the term "money" and "E-Crystals" in regards to currency in this FanFic interchangeably.**

"Here, take this," Ashe said defeatedly as she passed James the device she was using to listen to the alien music earlier.

"What is this?" James asked as he examined the small device.

"Some kind of music player I came across when I came here a while back," Ashe replied. "There's some sort of music I never heard before on it."

James put the headphones in his ears and began playing the music on it. After a few minutes a smile crossed his face as he tossed Vent the Droid Popper, nearly dropping it before Grey caught it. "It's all yours, just don't drop it too hard. It could go off, and this one's had its safety lock removed."

"Safety lock?" Grey asked.

"The electromagnetic-pulse that thing emits will end up shorting out _any _form of tech," James explained. "Even the Humanoid Implants."

**Author's Note:  
"Humanoid Implants" are the machines people have implanted in them to put them on par with reploids.**

"I'll just… have Fleuve look it over," Vent said warily as he put the device in his pocket, making sure it wouldn't fall out. "Still don't see why the kid's so _adamant _about replacing his," he grumbled under his breath.

"_I just am! Deal with it!" _Neal roared again from the other end of the line, causing Vent to wonder how Neal kept getting to his Comm Link.

"Anyway, now that that's done, I'll see about getting you those parts and armor plating," James said as he walked down another aisle. "And remember not to touch anything. You break it, you buy it."

Vent just sighed. _This kid's gonna make me broke if this keeps up, _he thought to himself.

* * *

A while later, Giro's old motorcycle had been transported into the Grand Nuage's repair shop. At the moment, several mechanics were looking the motorcycle over, removing a few parts and setting the metal casing to the side by the welding equipment. The tires were completely deflated, but that's just what happens when you leave a motorcycle in storage for half a decade or so.

As Neal sat to the side and watched, one mechanic asked for his driver's license. It was a regular D-Class –for civilian-based vehicles- and it checked out, so he could drive the motorcycle legally.

A few minutes later, another mechanic came up to him and asked him if he'd ever _driven_ a motorcycle before. He answered no, but the mechanic agreed to show him to the simulator later.

As the majority of the motorcycle had been taken apart and rearranged according to the categories of the parts, the old Giro Express licence plate had been removed, and a new, more-recent one, was needed to replace it. Neal was asked for what preference he had, if any. After a moment, he came up with the idea, and was led to the designing computer.

After a half hour or so, he had finally came up with the design. The license was a valiant red –just like the legendary hero Zero's armor-, had blue trim and hidden Guardian decorations on the edges –just like the Maverick Hunter X's armor-, and had gold letters reading **ZERO–01**.

Finally, Vent came into the garage, a crate full of parts behind him. "I hope you appreciate this. It was a pain carrying all these from the Transerver room."

One of the mechanics took the crate from behind Vent and began to look the contents over. After a while, he looked up and gave the thumbs up. "We've got enough parts to make this motorcycle off-road worthy. We can also do some work on the sidecar if you want."

"That sounds great," Neal said. "How long do you think it'll take."

"Well, we'll need to patch up the holes in the outer casing and apply some of the armor to the more crucial points," the mechanic explained. "If we work through the night we should have it ready by tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank you," Neal said. "I appreciate this."

"Hey, don't worry about it," the mechanic said shaking his hand. "After all, it isn't often we can work on a vehicle worthy of a Mega Man."

Neal just laughed nervously. "Yeah well… thanks again."

As soon as the two of them walked out the door, the **IN SERVICE **sign above the door lit up, and the latches fell into place, locking the place up.

"Oh. Here," Vent grumbled as he passed Neal the dull-brown sphere. "I managed to find a Droid Popper."

"Good, good," Neal said as he took the sphere in his hand before suddenly twisting it in half, exposing its internal mechanisms. "Later on, I'll modify the shockwave to only affect mechaniloids, seeing as how the safety is off."

"You can tell?" Vent asked.

"I studied advanced and theoretical mechanics early on," Neal answered. "Now come on. Prairie wants to see us."

* * *

In Prairie's office, the shelves on the walls had retreated into the walls, the window's metal guards lowered, and her desk lowered into the floor as a large metal table with a holographic projector screen set down from the ceiling, turning the entire room into a more futuristic-looking strategy room. Like the kind you see in futuristic-military video games.

"Vent, Aile, thank you both for coming," Prairie said as they sat down on metal chairs that had risen from the floor. "I assume you are wondering why you are here?"

Vent and Aile nodded, then looked to the table as the holographic screen began to light up. The next moment a globe appeared, then split in half and fell onto the table, forming a world map.

"This, in case you didn't know, is a satellite image of our planet," Prairie said gesturing to the map on the table. "At the moment, we are right about here," she said pointing to the bottom of a large continent on the far right, just above the ocean where a pink Grand Nuage-shaped symbol was. "Now, the Grand Nuage, home to the head branch of the Guardians, travels the majority over the continent of Asia, one of seven throughout the world."

Neal looked at the map before pointing at three key points; The first being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the second {insert locations here} "What about Atlantis, Lemuria, and Mu? From everything I've heard, it's viable that those lost continents do in_ fact _exist. After all, it isn't that much of a stretch to say there's _no such thing _as _no such thing_."

"That isn't the issue here," Prairie said, pushing Neal's hand aside from the holographic projection. "Anyway, the majority of our Guardian forces are stationed in Asia, while we have a few stationed across Europe, Africa, and South America. In Neo America, we have the second largest number of Guardian members, although that isn't saying much since they're scattered. As a covert operation, we need to keep our numbers manageable. As for Antarctica, we have a few members out there on rotation, but they can only be there for a few weeks every six months. Especially since I get so few volunteers."

"Why are you showing us the world map?" Vent asked.

Prairie looked up at him before giving her answer. "Do you see these six dots?" she asked pointing to the map. On the Grand Nuage were four dots; one was pink-red, another silver, and the last two red and gold. Another two dots inland of Asia were red and purple. "Those symbolize the current locations of you, Aile, Neal, Pandora, Ashe, and Grey. At the moment, _all _of the Mega Men who aren't trying to destroy humanity are all in one place. That is why, we'll be sending Neal and Pandora out into the world," she explained. "If we split our forces, the enemy will have to split them accordingly. We'll also be able to hide them better, and just for the record, these four beacons aren't being tracked by satellite. These are just used for representation from our current knowledge."

"But why repair Giro's motorcycle?" Aile asked. "Couldn't Neal and Pandora just take the train or Transerver networks."

"Hey wait a minute. Why are Neal _and_ Pandora going out like this?" Vent asked.

"To answer your question, Aile," Prairie started, "the reason they're going out like this is because by traveling through the Outlands, it'll be more difficult to track them, and as for the Transerver networks, we'd be running the risk of being tracked down. As for _your _question Vent, this is for their own safety. With Atlas, Aeolus, Thetis, and Siarnaq hunting them down, since they are two of the newest Mega Men, it'll be better for everyone if we hide them in plain sight, instead of where they _know _they'll be found."

At that moment Model E hovered out of Neal's pocket and looked the map over, before scanning it. _"Hmm. Things have changed a bit during the century or two I was gone."_

"Wait, why isn't Pandora here to see this?" Neal asked.

"Well, when word got out that you may be leaving, Neal," Prairie said, "Pandora asked to go with you. We went back and forth for a bit, but after a while I decided it would be better to send you two into the field together, rather then sending you out alone, without backup."

"Wait a minute, how do we know the bad guys won't just slap up some wanted posters?" Vent asked.

"The people of this world may be ignorant, but they aren't _complete _idiots," Neal said, hissing the last part. "If such _wanted posters _were to go up, then people would ask questions, and if Legion _does _have anything to do with this, then they'd rather maintain their cover, as opposed to having too many people snooping around."

"Ah. I see," Neal said.

"Neal has also been selected because he's also had the most _experience _traveling through the Outlands," Prairie continued, giving Neal a wink that went unnoticed by Vent and Aile.

"Experience? What do you mean?" Vent and Aile asked.

"_Well_," Neal said getting up from his seat and stretching his back. "I think we're done here. I'll go pack my things, and someone who isn't _male _can go help Pandora pack _her _things," he added, immediately changing the subject away from his past -which at the moment he wasn't ready to explain-.

Vent and Aile just looked to each other confusingly, but then caught what he meant. "Don't worry. I'll take care of that," Aile said as she got up.

As the two of them left, Prairie was just about to return her office to normal when she noticed that Vent was staring at the map intently. "Vent? Is something the matter?"

"Well…" Vent said looking the map over. "It's just… I never would've thought the world was so big. Guess I never took the time to look at the big picture during everything that's happened."

Prairie smiled as the shelves came back out, the table rose up, and the seat folded back into the floor, causing Vent to fall on his rear. "Don't worry. With Neal collecting Transerver coordinates for the Guardians, I'm sure we'll be able to set up a new network for you and the others to use."

* * *

That evening, Neal slept in his room on his own. His duffel bag he had been using prior to his whole Mega Man business starting, had been damaged, and if taken on a long journey, would fall apart within a few days. One of the guardians, a skinny, cowardly guy by the name of Congre had given him a green Guardian-issued duffel bag, with plenty of pockets on the inside to hold his stuff.

He then began to think back to before this whole thing started. When life was a whole lot simpler.

After he had left his home –after the whole mess with Serpent had been resolved- he began living by himself at school dormitories when he pursued his studies. What he kept with him was mostly shirts, jeans, a couple pairs of shoes, socks, and the other stuff he'd need like toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.

Now that he had his Droid Popper again, he'd feel safer traveling through the Outlands again. When he had _first_ begun traveling through the Outlands, he usually used the Droid Popper to short-circuit the mechaniloids that were too big for him to deal with the simple use of the crowbar he had carried with him. That thing had saved him on multiple occasions at _various _instances, and he had the feeling he'd need any advantage he could get.

* * *

At the same time, Prairie sat in her office, looking at the stars with her sister-given stuffed toy sitting in her lap. As she thought back to the past, when life was simple and she was a little reploid girl known as Alouette, her thoughts then drifted back to last night.

"_These stars. Are they the same as they were back then?"_

Prairie smiled as an image Zero with his arm over Ciel's shoulder while her arm was around his waist appeared before her in the moon, both giving her a smile and a thumbs-up before her own self-imposed illusion faded.

"Sis. Zero. Thank you for everything you've done," she said to herself as she continued to look into the stars. As she remembered back to the Ragnarok burning up in the heavens, she no longer saw it as a time to despair, but saw it the way Zero _wanted _her to see it.

A beacon pointing to a brighter future. For humans and reploids alike. For the world to begin moving forward, rather then being trapped in its cycle of stasis.

Or at least, for a couple centuries or anything.

* * *

The next morning, much to Neal's surprise, Gardenia, Tulip, and Marguerite were all at his doorstep with a simply-wrapped present in their hands. By some odd happenstance, the gift was for Neal himself. He didn't really know the three girls that well, but decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and just took the present.

He opened the gift and was surprised to find a pair of white metal bracelets with inlaid green circuitry. They explained to him that when he wore them, he simply had to bang them against each other lightly before pulling them apart, and that an interface screen would appear for him to use on any piece of technology, provided it wasn't too encrypted or too primitive. It was like the equipment they all used in the bridge, except Fleuve had just finished making the prototype for the newest model, which they had just given him for a "field test".

Neal thanked the three operators, and to his surprise they all winked at him after raising their visors, telling him, "Come back soon handsome." before walking down the hall, giggling to eachother at how cute the new Mega Man was.

At that moment his face heated up into a blush. First it was just Prairie he liked, but then there was Pandora who he was unsure of his feelings for. Now, the three operators for the Grand Nuage were suddenly hitting on him. He admitted that with their visors off they were all pretty, but the fact was he just didn't know them well enough to be certain of anything.

Life was a lot less complicated before this whole Mega Man business started.

But anyway, aside from that, he placed the **Interface Bands **in his inside jacket pocket before getting ready for the day. Today was the start of his and Pandora's adventure to find the world's truth, and he certain as hell wasn't going to be late for it.

* * *

After dropping by the Grand Nuage's repair shop, he was surprised to find that his motorcycle wasn't there anymore.

One mechanic told him that the motorcycle had already been transported to a secluded area of the Outlands, just outside the Hunter's Camp. They also said the motorcycle had been fully tricked out for off-roading. Not only had the shocks been replaced, and the tires replaced with a highly durable poly-nano-resin, but a street mode configuration had been added too to help with mileage. What was also new was that the vehicle now had an electrically-based Nitros.

Of course with his cyber elf Juice, he needn't worry about getting it refilled too much at public places without drawing suspicion to himself.

* * *

Later that afternoon after everything had finished being prepared, both Neal and Pandora stood in the transerver room. Along with them were Vent, Aile, and Prairie, waiting to say goodbye to them.

"So you two are really gonna go?" Aile asked.

Neal nodded. "Yeah. Plus, someone needs to keep an eye on Pandora for the time being. After all, I did promise I'd keep her in line."

Vent nodded in understanding.

"But how will you survive in the outlands on your own?" Aile asked.

"That's kind of a stupid question, considering you're talking to a Mega Man here," Neal said coyly. With the additional training he had received, he was beginning to feel more confident in himself, although he knew he couldn't just spout Mega Man wherever he went. Until he could last longer then three seconds against the other four, he'd have to keep as low a profile as possible.

Aile just groaned. "Just try not to get yourself killed out there."

_"Do not worry about him Aile,"_ Model E said as he floated out of Neal's pocket. _"I've got his back."_

_"Us too!" _Recon, Juice, and Periscope said, suddenly appearing behind him, nearly freaking out Vent and Aile, though Prairie remained more composed.

"Ah, it's been a long time since I've seen Cyber Elves," Prairie said as she pat Recon on the head, then ran a hand down Periscope's right fin. "I see you've got a Nurse, Animal, and Hacker type."

"Wait, I thought Cyber Elves were a person's _soul_," Vent said, remembering all that had happened _before_.

"That's a story for another day," Neal said as he and Pandora walked onto the Transerver, his Biometal and Cyber Elves retreating to his person.

"See you later," Pandora replied as they were whisked away.

After the two of them were gone, Vent and Aile headed for the door. "Commander. You coming?" Vent asked.

"You two go on ahead. I'll just be here a minute, looking at the sky," Prairie said as she stood by the large window dominating the starboard wall.

The two of them simply shrugged their shoulders before opening the door and leaving their commander to her thoughts.

* * *

In a flash of light, Neal and Pandora with their bags in tow now stood in the Outlands just outside the Hunter's Camp. A short distance away, the vehicle they'd be using for the foreseeable future was parked.

A brief walk later they had placed their bags in the sidecar, which Neal had told the mechanics would be a good idea to keep around.

"Well, shall we get going?" Pandora asked as she hopped onto the vehicle, content on riding behind Neal.

Neal raised his leg to get on, but he suddenly stopped. "Hold that thought. There's _one _last thing I have to take care of before I go."

Pandora tilted her head slightly as Neal tapped into his Comm Link while he was still within the Grand Nuage's range.

* * *

Prairie just stood in the Transerver room, looking out the large panoramic windows to the clouds rolling through the sky. As she turned to the door, the Transerver suddenly started up. In a flash, Neal stood on the platform before he hopped off.

"Oh, Neal, did you forget something?" Prairie asked, wondering why Neal was back there. Not that she was _complaining_ or anything.

"Uh… Yeah… Um… Prairie," Neal spoke with a hint of finalism in his voice. "Before I go… I was wondering… if there was something you could help me with?" he asked, trying to gather his thoughts together. "I mean…" he said rubbing the back of his head nervously. "You don't _have_ to if you don't want to," he said in finalization.

"Oh. Of course Neal. Anything," Prairie answered.

**Cue Soundtrack – Libera Me From Hell**

At that moment, Neal quickly mustered up all his courage and tipped Prairie's commander's hat back a bit, then held her arms. To her surprise, he suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss. For a moment her eyes widened, only for Neal to pull away a moment later before she could lose herself.

"Heh. Sorry 'bout that. Just thinking of myself back there," Neal admitted, a playful smirk on his face as he looked into her eyes.

Prairie snapped herself back into attention, the blush on her cheeks receding as Neal walked towards the Transerver. "I-It's okay," she admitted, not having a problem with what had just happened. _He really _does _like me, _she thought to herself as her cheeks turned a healthy shade of pink.

"Well…" Neal said as he stepped on the teleporter before pressing the initiation button. "So long… For now," he said with a smile before he disappeared in a flash of light.

As soon as he had left, Prairie straightened her commander's hat and walked out of the Transerver room, a determined look on her face as she headed for the bridge. _Once this is all over, maybe the two of us can… No, I can't think like that yet. There's still a lot of work I need to do._

She swiftly sat down onto her commander's seat and addressed the three operators. "Change course to starboard 20 degrees, incrementing 2 degrees with each half mile. Effective immediately."

"Yes ma'am," the three of them replied as they changed the ship's course.

_Neal. Don't die on me, _Prairie thought to herself. _Sis and I already lost Zero. I don't want to lose you too._

* * *

In a flash of light, Neal appeared beside the now modified, off-road motorcycle, the sidecar mounted on its side with both his and Pandora's bags in it. They had both agreed that while the sidecar would hold their belongings, that they'd both ride in the seat, since it would just be easier that way.

"Hello Neal," Pandora said in greeting. "Did you finish up?" she asked as he walked toward her.

Neal smirked as he hopped into the driver's seat, slipping the provided red helmet over his head as he lowered the black visor over his face. "Yeah. Now c'mon, let's get going."

"Right," Pandora replied as she slipped her own blue helmet on, a slightly more clear black visor going over her face as she wrapped his arms around Neal's waist.

Neal looked over his shoulder to the green-haired reploid girl, a contented look on her face as she looked off into the distance, her eyes filled with wonder at the wide world around them.

_Pandora. I'm not sure if your liking me is just because I saved you, but even if that's the case, I'll still show you the world you missed when you were under Model W's hold. At the very least, I can do that much._

Pandora looked up at Neal, who at the moment was lost in thought. "Neal, is something the matter?"

Neal shook his head, turning back to the horizon before them. "No. Nothing's wrong," he said as he revved the engines. "C'mon. Let's get going."

"Right," Pandora replied.

As Neal cut back on the brakes, the motorcycle -rechristened the Zero-1 for his journey in honor of the late Maverick Hunter Zero- drove off, the sunset before them as they disappeared from view, the only noise around was the slight roar of the engines, and the rumbling of the earth beneath the tires.

_Mom. Dad. I'm going now, but know this. I've met a lot of good people, and… the hole in my heart that formed after your deaths is slowly starting to fill. So just wait for me to come back, OK? I'll drop off some flowers the next time I'm around._

* * *

At the same time in the highest levels of Legion, a heavily battle-damaged reploid was laying on a heavy metal table, various machines repairing his fragmented armor. As this was going on, a large man with red hair and beard carrying a short sword oversaw the operation.

"So. How do you feel, Mega Man Model W?" the man asked.

The reploid, now revealed to be a repaired Prometheus, rose from the table and kicked the machinery out of his way as he strode towards him. "Just fine. Thomas."

"What? No _Master _Thomas?" the man asked, wondering if this reploid was just ignorant of his position.

"Hey, the only one who I call master is Model W itself," Prometheus spat. "Aside from that, I don't work _under _anyone. Only _with._"

"Very well then," Thomas said as he strode out of the room.

"So. Any news on the pink Mega Man?" Prometheus asked.

"Seems he is attempting to cover his trail," Thomas replied as he walked through the large halls to the main chamber. "But don't worry. This world belongs to me, and _has _belonged to me for centuries. He won't remain hidden for long."

"Very well. Until all of my strength returns, I'll let him run," Prometheus spat. "For _now_," he said with an evil smirk.

"Just remember," Thomas said. "Just because he was made a Mega Man by a near impossibility doesn't mean you should underestimate him."

"Pheh. Don't worry about that. I'll take him down no problem the next time I see him," Prometheus said.

"And what of your sister? The silver Mega Man?" Thomas asked with a raised eyebrow, interested in the answer he received. "Are you willing to take her down?"

"Hah! That traitor ceased to be my sister when she chose to side with the _human_," Prometheus said, just imagining separating Neal's head from his body.

At that, Thomas smiled darkly. Soon there would be nothing keeping him from ruling the world, as he already had been for centuries.

* * *

**The second-to-final scene is partially-based on the scene from the anime, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, when Kittan leaves in order to destroy the Death-Spiral Machine.  
****The reason I say "partially-based" is because Neal doesn't die after kissing the girl.**

**You'll also notice in this chapter that I've finally admitted to Master Thomas being the bad guy, instead of indirectly saying it like I have in previous chapters.****

* * *

**

**Author's Note:  
****To make something clear about this story, I'm using our world as a template for the "global stage". Since the events in Mega Man ZX Advent occur in the year 2554 (from my understanding), that means I'm placing this story 542 years after the year 2012. Geologically, it makes sense that Asia be used for the setting of Mega Man ZX and ZX Advent (based on the maps from the Mega Man Zero series, and how the geographical profile matches with the four/six games). I also back this up with the logic that in Mega Man Zero 2, one of the misions took place in Antarctica, which prooves our world was used as a template for the overall world by Capcom, and in Mega Man Zero 4, the continent _clearly _looks like Asia.**

**Note: I do not believe in the whole Armageddon thing (2012), but I figure that's a good year for the world to slowly turn into the Mega Man X/Mega Man Zero/Mega Man ZX/Advent world. And by that I mean by the technology standard.**

**Just in case you didn't get a clear enough definition of what the rest of the world looks like on a planet-wide scale, let me re-illustrate it for you. **

**The majority of the borders between the countries/states are the same, although the human population is more concentrated in specific area (i.e. capitals, major cities, costal cities), giving rise to walled cities like Inner Peace or Legion. The rest of the area outside the walled cities or outposts is mainly uninhabited (with the exception of a few small towns here and there). The majorities of stone-hewn ruins and such are mostly gone, except for the ones that have survived for centuries completely intact. (i.e. NOT the pyramids of Egypt. Those things are hardly standing as they are.)**

**The continents are still where they are, with the addition of around 550-554 years of continental drift. The yearly average per continent is 7.5 cm (3 inches).  
****If you take into account 542 years of continental drift, each continent would be moved 1626 feet.  
****I'm not good with metrics and all, but at the least I'm able to calculate it to be 542 yards.  
****That means in total that the continents have been moved a little more then five football fields in their respective directions.  
****From **_**my **_**understanding, the distance the continents would have moved in their respective directions is about a third of a mile, so in perspective, everything is still pretty much in the same place (just some places are a third of a mile apart).**

**Also, all mountain ranges are just slightly higher, although from a story perspective, I don't think that'll be an issue.  
The rivers are also mostly the same, although canyons carved with moving water are deeper then before.**


	14. Missions on the Horizon

It had already been three days since Chosen 04 and the newly-dubbed Chosen 05 –AKA Neal and Pandora- left the Grand Nuage in order to hopefully divide the enemy's forces by shifting their presence elsewhere, should they attempt to mount another attack. In that short time, everyone there had been able to get back onto their regular sleeping schedule, the immediate dangers having passed.

As for the official statement made by Inner Peace's mayor, the only thing he could say to the situation was that five mavericks had started rampaging in the middle of the city. Since there was no evidence pointing to Legion involvement, or Neal's existence, and because of the lack of public awareness of the Mega Men and the Game of Destiny, they had gotten off mostly Scott-free. However, it would be a while before Neal could go back there openly, since if someone recognized his face from that day and they were able to link him to that incident, that issue may be opened back up for investigation. After all, it only takes _one_ person in a crowd creaming to cause mass panic and/or hysteria.

Oh what ftimid creatures these humans be.

Anyway, during that time, Prairie had begun doing what her sister had done so long ago, and began scanning the world, remote locations in general, for the probable location of enemy bases, since back _then_, the enemy mechaniloids seemed to favor more remote locations, like the depths of a forest, the bottom of the ocean, the middle of a desert, or the polar ice caps.

As of the third morning, she had detected increased activity at the south pole, close to the center of Antarctica. Since whatever Guardian troops stationed there were rotated out bianually, and the small base they had been able to covertly establish was only occupied for a couple weeks every three months, she wasn't able to get any real intel, and thus, would need to send someone, or to be specific, _two _someones, to the potential enemy base.

Hopefully without altering Legion too much in the process.

"Hmmmm…" Prairie said to herself as she examined the different maps of Antarctica, the information layered so she could clear it out of the way when she needed to look at a specific point. "Things sure have changed in the past hundred years."

And changed they had. While in the 2000s Antarctica was merely a large continent on the "bottom of the world", surrounded by freezing oceans, icebergs, and the temperature range which rarely rose above 14.6 degrees Celsius (58.3 degrees F) in its warmest periods, its then-recorded low at -89.6 degrees Celsius (-129 F). Average calculated wind speeds were measured at 67 kph, and combined with the temperatures, hypothermia and death could set in within minutes unless those there were _very _prepared.

As it was now, the amount of icebergs around Antarctica had increased greatly, nearly double what it originally was. The temperature had also dropped by five degrees at its highest and lowest, the wind speed increasing to an even 70 kph. The wildlife however, was thriving moreso then in the 2000s, due to the fact that so few people ever went there any more, their movements being restricted to whatever shoreline could be navigated through the icy waters and few wide berths between icebergs.

However, if the scans she had received were anything to go by, the temperature of Antarctica seemed to actually be dropping even _further_. Now, even though the wildlife had been able to adapt to the decreased temperatures, that was only because the change was very gradual over every few decades. If the simulations she'd run were correct, then the temperature decrease would drop too low for the wildlife to be able to adapt to it fast enough, and the iceberg concentration would thicken considerably. If left unchecked, the potential for the ice to spread to the southern continent of Australia, regardless of its year-round warm temperatures, was a very real threat.

The only conclusions she could figure out were; A) The decrease in temperature and increase in wind speed was a natural phenomena, and couldn't be changed that easily; Or B) Whoever was pulling Legion's strings had something to do with it, the probability of an Ice-based maverick being stationed within some sort of base very high as well.

Given the fact that all the "natural disasters" that nearly befell Area Zero were caused by synthetic means, with one of the Einherjar Eight Warriors guarding the controls or core to each device, the likelihood of the prior –given her experiences- was more unlikely the one might need to think.

"Operators, have you been able to determine any _remotely_-safe routes to Antarctica's heart?" Prairie asked.

"We've only been able to determine a single feasible route to the continent's interior," Gardenia stated. "The only other route has been judged too dangerous."

"From meteorological data, we've been able to determine that moving to the continent's interior by air would be nearly impossible, even for a ship like the Grand Nuage," Tulip continued.

"Because the wind moves in neither a consistent, nor predictable pattern, accompanied by the risk of the engines freezing over while en route, the only route available is by land, but that route is still dangerous due to wind speed and temperatures," Marguerite finished. "I am afraid we may not be able to get anyone into the field to confirm whether or not the enemy has established a base. The natural barriers are simply too great for conventional means."

Prairie put a hand to her chin in thought as she looked the holographic map over. When she scanned the coast, something caught her eye. "There, by the northwestern shore. What's that?"

Tulip looked at the map to where Prairie was pointing. "It appears to be a fissure, the average width six meters in most areas. In other words, a gap of around twenty feet at the most. Why?"

"That's how we'll get in," Prairie answered as she highlighted the fissure, which stretched from the northwestern shore to a third of the way from Antarctica's center. "There's an air pocket a few miles inland, and it'll be our best shot of getting anyone there."

"But commander, any safe underwater craft would be too large to navigate past the ice fields, and because the temperature is below zero year-round, any diving team sent would freeze to death within minutes," Gardenia stated.

"Don't worry about that. If I didn't know the two of them could get to their destination, I wouldn't even _consider _sending them in," Prairie replied, thankful to find a solution to the problem at hand.

"But who could you mean?" Marguerite asked.

"A pair of Mega Men who can adapt to nearly any situation," Prairie answered. "Prep any available communication channels for a completely untraced transmission. If the enemy is tracing public lines, then we can't take any chances."

* * *

In the shade of a large boulder in the middle of the Outlands, Neal and Pandora sat eating a simple lunch while they looked over the World Map they were provided with. Various points of data were shown, to help indicate where they should go next, such as enemy movements, the "tightness" of mechaniloid patrols, and other such factors like known aggression levels, stores for buying much-needed supplies, and any available Guardian units. The locations of established towns and outposts included on the map as well.

"Where do you suppose we should go next?" Pandora asked as she munched on her sandwich.

"Well… The nearest city is to the northeast," Neal answered. "It isn't necessarily a _walled _city, so we can leave at any time without worry about road blocks, but it's still a good idea to keep our guard up. We should try and maintain a low profile. Especially since there aren't any Guardian units on the map until we hit Europe."

Pandora nodded in recognition, but instantly clung to Neal's arm as the sound of synthetic growling echoed from the distance. The two of them looked out and saw a half-dozen mechanical wolves with single optical receptors. They had beaten-up grey armor, and looked the mechaniloid's equivalent to rabid dogs.*****

"Neal! What are those things?" Pandora cried as she pointed at them.

"Must be rogue mechaniloids," Neal said as he walked toward them, much to Pandora's surprise since he had yet to megamerge. "Usually mechaniloids obey those who either built them or turned them on, but sometimes a few are able to break out of their master's control. Their intelligence is sub-standard at best, but they're still able to plan with each other to an extent, making them very dangerous, regardless of which make they are."

"But are you really going to fight them as you are?" Pandora asked as he continued to walk over to them in his human state, hoping that Neal wasn't letting the whole Mega Man thing get to his head.

"Don't worry about me," Neal said as the six Garm were almost on top of them. "Besides. I've always _wanted _to take part in a shootout," he said as he parted his coat, revealing a pair of Buster-Pistols once concealed beneath shoulder holsters..

The Buster-Pistols themselves were a simple dark grey, almost purple shade, with brown leather-gripped handles, visible red-cylindered energy chambers, silver bolts offsetting the sides above the handle, and white armor with two black stripes on both sides and a purple crosshairs on the ends of the barrels.*****

For a moment Pandora was filled with awe at the dramatic unveiling of the twin weapons, but soon realized that she may need to megamerge with Model M in order to become the Mega Man of Hope, how she now calls it since her new life is the living personification of hope.

**Cue Mega Man Zero 2 Soundtrack – Departure**

As Neal facedthe six Garm, he reached up at his collar and removed his trench coat in a dramatic fashion before tossing it over his right shoulder to Pandora. He then decked out his pistols and twirled them on his fingers before pointing them at the first Garm that lunged at him, leaping into the air above him in an attempt to catch him from above.

As he was about to lunge at Neal from above, Neal raised both pistols at their intended target and pulled the triggers.

_**Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu!***_

_**Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu!**_

The Garm was swiftly gunned out of the sky and fell to the ground in a broken heap at his feet as it fell short, several holes punched through its armor before the remains of its internal mechanisms blew up.

The next two Garm charged at him from both sides, but Neal crossed his right arm in front of him, his left arm behind, and fired at both of their faces. His intention wasn't for accuracy, but he'd seen it in an action film and just _had _to try it once in his lifetime, all circumstances considered.

_**Chu! **__**Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu!**_

The majority of the shots missed, but not all of them needed to hit since one or two shots hit the Garm's optical receptors, permanently blinding them as they began to stumble around blindly. They were gunned down a moment later.

_**Chu! Chu! Chu! **__**Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! **__**Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu!**_

Neal quickly turned away from the last two Garm before heading to the other side of the rock from before, pulling Pandora with him as the mechaniloids followed after them.

They quickly ran to the back of the rock formation, but to their confusion, there was nothing there they could detect.

_**Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! **__**Chu! Chu!**_

Suddenly, the most aged Garm –obviously the leader- was gunned down out of nowhere. The remaining Garm looked around in calculating panic, but managed to look up before it met the fate of its fallen brothers.

_**Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu!**_

From a ledge on the rock formation, Neal twirled his twin pistols on his fingers before blowing the imaginary smoke from the barrels and placing them back under his shoulder holsters and put on his trench coat. "Man, I didn't even have to _megamerge _that time," he said happily as he looked at the smoldering remains of the Garm. "Guess this is what it feels like to be in the firing end for once," he added remembering the times he'd been shot _at_, and how good it felt to be the shoot_er _instead of the shoot_ee_.

Pandora simply clung to his leg in fear, having felt completely defenseless without her Biometal to protect her. Such was the fate of those bound to Model W for so long like she. A moment later, Neal looked down and took notice.

"Hey, don't worry Pandora," he said as he kneeled down and looked Pandora in the eyes. "As long as I'm around, I won't let anything hurt you. I made that promise, and I'm going to _keep _that promise."

"*sniff* Thank you, Neal," Pandora nodded then wrapped her arms around him in gratitude, still shaking a little from before.

Neal was a little bit awkward with the current situation after a few minutes, but eventually returned the hug. "Uh… You're welcome."

Pandora continued to shake for a minute after the Garm had been gunned down, making Neal increasingly uncomfortable in the process. Whether it was by the sun beating down on him in his black trench coat or the girl who he didn't really know his feelings for hugging him for so long was up to debate.

"Um. Pandora. Can you let me go?" Neal asked scratching his cheek. "We kinda need to get going."

Pandora immediately realized what she was doing and jumped off of him as though she couldn't do it fast enough. "Oh. Right. Sorry," she apologized, a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"Uh, it's fine, don't worry about it," Neal said as he walked over towards the bike.

"Oh, by the way Neal, could you tell me again where you got those?" Pandora asked, looking the twin weapons over curiously. "You never told me you kept other weapons on you. Aside from Model E I mean."

Neal took a breath as to when he remembered getting those. "Well until today I didn't really. However that changed yesterday..." he said as he looked across the Outlands.

* * *

**FLASHBACK START**

**Cue Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack - Den of Hunters**

After Neal had gone to the repair shop on the Grand Nuage and talked to Vent, Neal decided that before he left, he needed to thank Ashe and Grey for keeping him under control when they first _met_. Understandably, it wasn't in the best circumstances, and he wanted to make sure what he did didn't leave a foul taste in their mouths. In a sense.

He walked through the Hunters' Camp after arriving from the Transerver, and after asking a few Hunters around the camp for directions, he finally came to a large steel container repurposed to be a home for one, or two people, at the back of the grounds.

"Hello?" Neal asked as he knocked on the door. "Ashe. Grey. Is this the right place?"

"Who is it?" a female voice on the other side asked, obviously Ashe's.

"It's me, Neal," he answered. "Can I come in. I'm about to head out, and I wanted to thank you in person."

The door opened, and the silver-haired Hunter stepped out. As soon as she did, she looked him over, especially the right side of his face, since she hadn't seen it until now.

"Well at least the right side of your face isn't disfigured or anything," Ashe said shrugging her shoulders, since from what she's read in books or seen on TV, guys who usually wore masks on one side of their face or all of it tended to be disfigured in one way or another. "So, are you gonna come in, or are you going to just stand there all day?" she asked impatiently.

Neal sighed as he walked into the large metal crate. _She may be cute, but she's different then Prairie, Pandora and Aile. Wait why'd I just say that? Oh, right. Adolesence._

As soon as he entered, he was greeted by the sight of a semi-well-kept home. The table to the side of the room had a few plates on it, there was a somewhat-ratty couch in the center of the room, facing a TV with a makeshift antennae on it. In the back was a pair of cots with some blankets and pillows scattered, and in one corner was a work table with various tools scattered around. In what looked like the kitchen, a grey-haired reploid kid was doing the dishes while wearing an apron in a somewhat degrading manner.

"It's not much, but its home," Ashe said proudly as she settled herself onto the couch. "Just don't go on a killing spree and destroy everything or anything," she added, leveling a glare at him.

"I'll uh, keep that in mind," Neal said as he stepped over the scattered tools in the makeshift house.

As Neal walked forward, his foot suddenly got caught on something heavy, causing him to nearly trip over. When he looked at what he had tripped on, he saw that it was a small crate filled with blasters of various size and type, and laying on the top was a red, white, and purple-colored W-shaped Biometal with light blue optics and a bolt above its "face".

"_Hey, watch where you're walkin'!" _the Biometal spoke as it floated up at his face. _"You nearly knocked me and my bed over!"_

"Oh, you must be Model A," Neal said as he plucked the mouthy Biometal out of the air, ignoring it's ranting about him 'watching his fingers'. "I'd heard about a 'chatty little thing', but didn't think much of it until now."

"_You've got that right! Now put me down!"_ Model A ordered.

"If you insist," Neal responded by letting go, the mouthy Biometal clattering against the floor due to the abruptness of being dropped.

"_Well you didn't have to be so _abrupt _about it," _Model A groaned as he settled himself back into his _bed_.

"I'm guessing the kid in the kitchen is Grey," Neal asked.

Grey turned around upon being addressed. When he saw Neal, he suddenly panicked and brought out his blaster.

"Yah!" Neal cried as Grey fired a shot at him, quickly ducking under the table before grabbing Model A again after plucking him out of his _bed _once again.

"What're you doin' with Model A?" Ashe demanded.

_"Yeah! What she said!"_

"A potential projectile weapon, and if necessary, a shield," Neal answered with a tatful look on his face.

"_Hey! I ain't some softball you can throw through people's windows!" _Model A whined as he tried to free himself from the dark-haired boy's grip. _"Now put me down!"_

"Just as soon as Grey puts down that gun," Neal said as he peered around the far side of the couch.

"S-Sorry," Grey apologized as he put his weapon back at his side. "When I saw you, I sort of overreacted."

"And _why _exactly did you overreact?" Neal asked.

"Well…" Grey started.

**Flashback-within-a-Flashback Start**

Right as Grey was about to get up from the ground where he was kneeling, a white-clawed hand suddenly burst out of the ground in front of him and took him by the throat.

"Oh boy," he muttered as a pair of murderous eyes shot out of the ground in front of him. "YAH!" he cried as he was lifted into the air, then slammed back into the ground face-first. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

For the next minute or so, as Berserk Neal slammed Grey's face into the ground, he continued push himself out of the street despite the other's efforts to pry him off. Since any attacks used could hurt grey as well, they had to do it the old fashioned way.

Thankfully, or at least not for Grey, Berserk Neal was completely preoccupied with beating the living daylights out of him to take notice.

**Flashback-within-a-Flashback End**

"I still get flashbacks," Grey muttered, a visible chill going up his spine.

"Yeah… Sorry about that," Neal apologized. When he looked back down, he saw something in Model A's "bed" that caught his eye.

"_Hey what're you doing?" _Model A demanded as Neal picked him up again before chucking him onto the couch. After picking through the box, he finally found what had caught his eye. "These look like perfectly good blasters. Why don't you use _these_?" he asked, holding up two identical blasters.

"Oh, I could never get them to work the way I wanted them to," Ashe replied. "Shame too. I thought they'd make good weapons. Of course, that's what happens when you pick up weapons from the salvage pile. Even _when _they look decent."

"If I can make them work better, can I have them?" Neal asked hopefully, intrigued and excited by the challenge he'd just issued.

"Sure, I guess," Ashe said shrugging her shoulders. "But just for the record, no one at camp has been able to make them work since they were found. What makes you think _you_ can pull it off?"

"I studied Blaster Mechanics for a year," Neal said as he took the two pistols and set them down on the table after clearing a space. He then took a screwdriver and removed the bolts on one of the sides, before delicately removing the outer casing after taking off the white armoring over the end of the barrel.

"Yeah, it's complicated, I know," Ashe said as she looked at the various circuits and mechanics of the blasters.

Neal looked the circuits paths over until he reached for a soldering tool and a wire cutter. He then moved one wire and connected the end to a separate circuit, soldering it into place. He then looked over the white armor and took a prier and began to mess with the recoil mechanism.

Ashe and Grey then spent the better part of an hour watching as Neal continued to work on the twin blasters, occasionally digging through the drawers for parts or salvaging them from other blasters as he split the casing in half, in a state of awe, though more from the latter than the prior. Some parts he placed inside the guns and began integrating them into their internal mechanisms, but others that were simply too worn out or not compatible he threw in the trash can.

At the end of the hour or so, Neal reapplied the outer casings and reattached the white armor. A sigh escaped his lips as he wiped some sweat from his forehead, this being one of the most mentally trying experiences he'd had in a while as he wiped the crease off his hands and shook his clothing free of metal shavings.

Ashe just blinked a few times before speaking up. "What did you just _do _in the last hour?"

"Yeah, it looked like you just took different pieces out of the guns and stuck them into the blasters," Grey said from by the sink. "How will doing all that make it work."

"Oh that's easy. Well, not really, but you know what I mean," Neal said as he held the twin pistols in his hands. "I noticed that the gun wasn't rapid-fire enabled, so I linked the firing mechanism to the energy chamber through a condensed loop-circuit. I also shortened the wiring between the battery and firing chamber, changing the time between the time the trigger is pulled to the plasma bullets being fired from .5 seconds so .20 seconds. I also noticed the recoil wasn't strong enough to handle rapid-fire capabilities without sacrificing accuracy, so I balanced out the core weight and replaced the triggers to help keep my aim in alignment. For the recoil itself I polished and re-coated the cylinder cartridge bores, then tightened the cylinder receiver spring after honing the latch to stop it from jerking back too much upon firing. I also swapped out the battery chamber for a more recent model of smaller size and greater capacity, that way the blasters would could work longer between cooling periods for the recharge, and increasing the damage of the bullets to some degree as well. The firing rate should be between .5 to .75 shots a second fired if my math is correct," he said holding a piece of scratch paper that had a random jumble of mathematical calculations on it that appeared to be math of some sort.*

Ashe and Grey just stared dumbfounded at the blasters Neal held in his hands. Guessing from what he'd explained, he'd not only enabled rapid-fire, but also increased the power, accuracy, and cut the recoil in half with the various upgrades he'd performed.

"Hey by the way, would you happen to have some shoulder holsters for these?" Neal asked as he looked around the room. "If I carry them in my pockets, I'm afraid I'll either not be able to get to them when I really need to, or I may end up shooting myself in the foot."

Ashe just shook her head as she went to her closet. "Over here. I think I have a few holsters lying around."

She didn't like the fact that the kid had just scammed her out of a pair of perfectly good Blaster Pistols, but in retrospect, she _did _say if he could make them work he could have them.

"Hey, while you're at it, you think you could look at my pistol?" she asked as she unlatcher her weapon from the back of her belt.

**FLASHBACK END**

* * *

"I had gotten my Blaster Permit a while ago, but never got around to getting the blasters them_selves_," Neal said with an embarrased sigh. "You either need to be in the military, police force, or the Hunters Guild in order to get blasters at most places anyway, so this works out just fine for me."

"Ah, I see," Pandora nodded as she hopped behind him onto the motorcycle. "So where are we going now?"

Neal looked into the satchel he had placed in the sidecar and saw that it was nearly empty. "We've been on the road for about three days now, and our food supplies are almost gone. We'll have to stop by the next town or outpost before we go any further."

With that being said, Neal pulled the throttle back, the Zero-01 shooting off into the distance.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hunter Camp, Ashe was lying on the couch polishing her pistol while some music from the radio played. At the moment, Grey was sleeping on the cot, snoring lightly as all the chores for the day had been done.*

A few minutes later, a whirring sound came from her shelf. When she looked up, she saw the Comm. Link Prairie had given her vibrating against the shelf, inching closer to the edge of the shelf by the second.

When it fell over, Ashe caught it in her hand and looked it over. "Where was the 'On' button on this thing again?" she asked herself as she fumbled around with the device for a few seconds before finding it, attaching it to the side of her head as the communication came through. "Hello?"

While Ashe continued to chat over the Comm. Link, Grey rolled over on the cot, just about to get to sleep when he suddenly felt his entire world being yanked out from under him.

"Up and at 'em sleepyhead!" Ashe ordered after yanking the cot right out from beneath him, "We've got a new mission."

"Ashe…" Grey moaned as he lifted himself from the floor. "If you've got a mission, why don't you just go yourself. I can just stay here and watch over the house."

"Don't think you can just pulla 'Luigi'* one me," Ashe stated as she plucked Model A out of his box and got her blaster ready. "The mission pays double if we both go, and we need the cash."

"But why exactly do I _have _to go?" Grey asked. "Maybe I just don't feel like it."

"Hey, don't forget, you're living under _my _roof, and using _my _Biometal, so until both change, you're coming with me," Ashe argued. "Now get your gear and come with me. We have just enough time to get briefed on our mission before we have to leave."

"Ugh… yes ma'am," Grey grumbled as he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes.

* * *

**NOTICE: From now on the * (asterisk) will be used to connect pieces of the story to the Author's Notes at the bottom of the page, since a reader was kind enough to point out that the "Author's Note:" tabs in the middle of the chapters kinda interrupted the flow of the story. At least this way that won't be an issue any more. **

**It's similar in a way to how footnotes are used in some documents and stories. I seem to remember that one story was structured around footnotes, with dialogue actually being exchanged that way in a third-person perspective.**

**I hope that this is a better solution to the problem, then what I'd been doing before. Anyway, here are the Author's Notes if you're interested in those at all.**

**Author's Notes:  
* The mechaniloids that tried to attack Neal and Pandora were the Garm mechaniloids from Mega Man Zero 1, except with grey paint as opposed to the usual green.**

*** The blasters Neal uses are the same as Axl's twin blasters he normally uses.**

*** The onomatopoeia "Chu" is simply how I think the sound of the bullets coming out of the buster/pistols in the Mega Man Zero/ZX/Advent series sound.**

*** The lengthy explanation for _how _Neal fixed & modded the Buster Pistols is based on a similar topic from the game, Red Steel II for the Nintento Wii.**

*** Once Ashe rescued Grey, she held it over his head, and now he does at least 2/3 of the chores since he's living under **_**her**_** roof.**

*** My definition of "a Luigi" is when one person goes on an adventure/to do a chore, and the brother/sibling just stays at home and watches the house. For those of you who've played Paper Mario or the like, you don't need a footnote to know this.**


	15. Frozen Land

Ashe and Grey, now in their megamerged forms, were huddled up against a wall in one of the Guardian's drop ships, the only sound being the roar of the engine, and the wind and ice pounding against the small craft that was taking them to their next destination. The mission briefing they'd received a few days before was concise and to the point.

Temperatures were dropping and wind speeds were increasing all across the southern continent of Antarctica, the layer of ice surrounding the continent threatening to expand past its own domain and eventually into other areas.

Their mission; To use their Biometal's given versatility to go to the heart of the continent, and see if whether or not there was a facility in the center actually _causing _the increase in dangerous weather conditions.

The reason monitoring satellites hadn't been used was because of the glare created by both the sun, and from the light coming off the ice and snow. At that point, they would have to take a reinforced drop jet to get to the northwestern shore of the continent, and then take the underwater fissure to an air pocket to the inside of the continent. From there they'd make their way to the heart of the continent, where the weather conditions were estimated to be the calmest.

Before hand, the group had been getting a lot of sleep, since once they arrived at Antarctica, there would be no telling when they'd be able to leave, and in the cold going to sleep was equivalent to suicicde.

"Hey pilot! How long 'til we get there?" Ashe demanded as she banged a fist on the cockpit door. "I've been sitting on my ass for hours waiting for some kind of adventure!"

"_ETA to dropping point should be around ten more minutes," _the pilot spoke through the intercom.

"Hey um, sis, maybe I should've just stayed at home," Grey said timidly, not liking the way the plane shook when it met turbulence. "After all, you're a veteran at this, and I've hardly had any practice with Model A."

"That's to be expected since you woke up about a week ago," Ashe said as she leaned back against the wall. "Besides, the best thing to fix that nervousness of yours is experience, and jumping out of a jet into the ocean and then making a trek to the center of a frozen wasteland is just the thing you need."

"But wait, we've got this perfectly good plane. Why do we need to jump?" Grey asked.

"_I believe I can answer that question," _the pilot stated. _"After I got the data collected by Guardian HQ, I've been able to determine the safest cruising altitude for this mission. It's high enough that I don't have to worry about downdrafts slamming this vehicle into the floes, but low enough that the temperatures won't immediately ice over the wings."_

"I'm guessing the wings icing over is a bad thing," Grey asked.

"_If by bad, you mean crashing into the ocean and freezing to death within seconds in a cold watery grave, then yes, that's bad."_

"Okay," Grey grumbled. "I get the picture."

"Hey wait, you just said you found the right cruising altitude didn't you?" Ashe asked. "If that's the case, then why not fly us to the bull's eye?"

"_Something I should've made clear is the fact that while it's safe to fly at this altitude, it isn't safe to go any further inland than I already am," _the pilot said correcting himself. _"If I fly any further in, I risk the chance of the plane being thrown out of the sky."_

"I see. So we're on our own once we're dropped then?" Grey asked.

"_That may be correct, but I've heard great things about you," _the pilot replied. _"With all of those transformations of yours, navigating your way through here should be a walk in the park. So to speak."_

For the next few minutes, the small craft was silent except for the sound of the engines, and the roaring of the wind outside. Throughout the trip, the turbulence had nearly thrown them out of their seats, had they not been using four-point harnesses to keep themselves in place.

Suddenly, the lights in the cargo hold shone red, signifying that the mission had officially begun.

"_Alright you two. I'm lowering the cargo hatch," _the pilot said as the hydraulics in the sides of the craft hissed, the pistons pushing the doors open as the two Model A MegaMan unlatched themselves from the wall harnesses that kept them in place. _"Once we get confirmation that your mission is complete, head to the shore and we'll pick you up by boat."_

"Why don't you just pick us up by _plane_?" Ashe asked.

"_There isn't a flat runway long enough that we've been able to find, and it's too dangerous to perform an aerial extraction in the mainland," _the pilot responded. _"Your best option is to work your way back to the coast and give us a call. We'll pick you up when you show up."_

"Man, nothing's ever easy is it?" Grey asked.

"Hey, if adventuring were easy, everyone with a _pulse _would be doing this," Ashe replied as she fastened her diving goggles over her face, Grey doing the same as he pulled his from the hook on the wall.

The moment the doors fully opened, Ashe and Grey shielded their eyes from the sudden light that poured into the small cargo hold, the outside almost entirely white as the cold nipped at their faces.

"Come on Grey! Let's go!" Ashe said as she ran for the ramp, ready to jump into this adventure quite literally.

"Got it sis-AHHH!" Grey cried before suddenly tripping on one of the loading rollers and sliding off on his back.*

"Grey this is no time to be fooling around!" Ashe said as she dove down after her adoptive brother, the roaring of the plane's engines passing above her head as the jet spun around on both its vertical and lateral axis before using the former-headwinds to get away from the continent's airspace before the entire craft iced over.

* * *

**Mega Man ZX Soundtrack – Ultramarine Meditation – Blessed Pop -**

At that moment, a large group of penguins was swimming through the ocean, catching the indigenous fish in their beaks as their hydrodynamic bodies cut through the water like razors.

What the flightless birds weren't expecting however were for a giant blue-armored horseshoe crab and crocodile to slam down into the water, shattering the thin layer of ice that had gathered on the ocean's surface.

For Ashe and Grey, the leap of faith had been tricky for the first few seconds with the high-speed winds threatening to push them off course and slam them into the icebergs below, but once Ashe and Grey transformed into Chronoforce and Bifrost, their massive weight offset the 70 kph winds and brought them down into the water effortlessly.

Ashe immediately settled into the water, Chronoforce's body naturally designed it. However, Grey began to flail about the moment the water got over his head as he sank into the abyss.

"_Ashe! Help! I'm sinking!" _Grey cried through Model A's link.

"_Transform into Model L. He moves through water just fine," _Ashe instructed.

"_Oh, right, I forgot," _Grey admitted. _"A-Trans!"_

In a flash of light, Grey had transformed into the Ice Megaman, but soon found himself being buffeted around by the ocean currents, the only thing stopping him from being crushed against the side of an iceberg was Ashe rushing over and catching him on her back.

"_The currents are pretty strong around here," _Ashe stated as she too began to feel the currents buffeting against her form's hull as well. _"You just lay low for a few minutes, I'll let you know when we reach safer waters."_

"_G-got it," _Grey answered as he settled himself into the indention on Chronoforce's shell, a set of handholds and footholds being the only thing to keep him from being pulled into the freezing currents once more.

* * *

After coasting through the icy depths of Antarctica for what felt like hours, Ashe fighting against the current with Chronoforce's turbines while Grey used Model L's radar to scope out the route in front of them, they finally came to an air pocket at the end of a long undersea trench that opened up right beneath the mainland into an underwater cave.

"Okay Grey. Let's get this mission started," Ashe said as she spun Chronoforce's turbines, propelling herself out of the water and toward the icy canopy above them.

Grey quickly transformed into Buckfire with A-Trans, leaping off Ashe's back and onto the cavern wall across from him. The next moment, he performed a Canyon Jump, fracturing the wall before A-Transing again, transforming into Urgoyle mid-flight as Ashe transformed into Argoyle and launcher her Rock Bomb, the prior delivering a bicycle kick and redirecting the attack to the ceiling, shattering it.

"Good job Grey," Ashe said as she zipped between the falling debris. "Now transform into Vultron and pull me up," she said as she A-Transed into he Megamerge mode and slid down the walls slowly, compliments of the Frog Chip she received earlier, slowing her descent.

Grey freefell down toward Ashe, A-Transing into Vultron and clinging to the wall with his claws before he scurried down. "Okay sis. Grab on," he said as he outstretched his clawed hand, pulling the girl over his shoulder before climbing out of the ice pit.

* * *

After pulling themselves out of the hole in the ground, the snow up to their ankles, the two Mega Men's curiosity got the better of them, and they decided to see just _how _cold it was by dropping out of their megamerged state.

Ashe and Grey immediately regretted it, and quickly transformed into Argoyle and Urgoyle, their A-Transed forms keeping the cold from freezing them to death. However, after a few minutes, the mufflers on the Shisaroid's shoulders began to freeze over, as did the wheels in their feet, so using their skates wasn't going to work as the blizzard continued to buffet them.

In response to the situation, Ashe transformed into Bifrost, his bulking frame and ice-intended design keeping the wind from pushing him around, and his body from icing over. Grey now transformed into Model P, due to the wind nipping at his face, hopped onto her back as she drudged forward, the trenches of snow at her ankles getting filled with snow from this seemingly eternal blizzard.

* * *

For the next hour Ashe continued to walk forward, her actions practically becoming automatic as she rested her eyes for a few seconds, but focused on not letting it turn to a peaceful, _eternal_, slumber.

_Right foot forward. Left foot forward. Right foot forward. Left foot forward. Right foot forward. Left foot forward. Right foot-_

"Ashe! Ashe! I've got something on the radar," Grey said putting a hand to the side of his helmet and stretching out his artificially-enhanced senses.

"Well what are they?" Ashe asked.

"I don't know. It looks like a bunch of blips, and I can't see a thing through this blizzard," Grey groaned as he looked up.

**Grrrrrrrrrrr.**

"I just heard something!" Grey cried in panic as he leapt into the air, firing a volley of kunai into the blizzard at the closest blip on his radar.

The next moment a shrill yelping sound pierced the air**, and the soft sound of a body falling into the snow was heard.

"I hit something!" Grey said as he hopped off Ashe's back and ran into the blizzard to investigate.

"You idiot! Don't go in there alone!" Ashe cried as she trudged into the blizzard after him. When she came through the blizzard, she stood above an unconscious Grey, thankfully still in MegaMerge thanks to the Lock that Model A established after the two nearly froze to death the first time they de-megamerged. Next to him was a white-armored hound-like mechaniloid with a single red eye***.

"Model A. What the hell just happened?" Ashe asked.

"_The little stooge ran into an ambush. A whole bunch of these Snow Garm slammed him into the ground when he went to investigate," _Model A stated.

**Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.**

"Can you A-Trans Grey into something else and me into Model P?" Ashe asked. The next moment the hulking figure of Birfrost disappeared, replaced with Model P as Grey was transformed into Vultron.

Ashe's vision quickly turned black, the world arranged in an expanse with an illuminated blue grid pattern, a series of red blips surrounding her, the blinding haze of the blizzard completely neutralized.

"Madala Stars!" she shouted after charging her energy, six energy shuriken flying around her as she drew three kunai and threw them at an approaching mechaniloid, the two energy shuriken finishing it off as its two halves fell behind her.

As she began throwing more energy knives and giant shuriken toward the enemies coming in through the cover of the snow, more would continue to come into her range.

"_There's just no _end _to these guys," _Model A groaned as the fortieth mechaniloid was taken down, only for another two to come up on radar.

The next moment, all of the red blips began moving towards her all at once, and it didn't take a genius to know that they were trying to overpower her with numbers alone.

"GIGA CRUSH!" Ashe roared as she lashed her busters out at the thirty snow garm.

_**Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!**_

The next moment the broken mechaniloids' parts began falling to the ground in heaps of metal, forming disorganized piles all across the clearing that were quickly gathering snow.

"There. *_pant pant pant_* That's the last of them," Ashe panted as the last of the mechaniloids fell, her radar sight shutting down as she took a quick breather.

The next moment a whole bunch of red glares of light came into her line of sight through the blizzard, over a hundred enemies completely surrounding her with more coming.

"_In the immortal words of Hellboy_," Model A stated. _"Aw, crap."_

* * *

"Oooooogh… What happened?" Grey groaned as he got up from the cold ground, a hand going to his head at the headache he got from whatever it was that hit him.

"You got your butt handed to you by a mechaniloid, so I had to rescue you _and _fight off over a hundred-something mechaniloids by myself," Ashe grumbled across from him.

When he looked up, he realized that he was no longer getting buffeted by the eternal blizzard outside, but that they were in a large impromptu shelter made from… mechaniloid carcasses? Everything down to the floor was made of them, leaving only a small hole in the side that poked to the outside, a little bit of snow having formed over it as a makeshift barrier. All of the bits and pieces were held together with packed snow, a bit of ice creating a tight-fitting shell.

"Not only did you stay down for the entire fight, but I also had to build this shelter all on my own so you wouldn't die in your sleep," she said before A-Transing into Hedgeshock and giving the lantern she'd brought with her a little juice before transforming back to normal, rubbing her arms against her sides.

" . . . I'm sorry," Grey apologized.

"No use griping over it now. What's done is done, so we should focus on not freezing to death before we move on," Ashe said as she juiced up the lantern again, causing it to give off a little more heat only for the filament to shatter in the case. "Never mind. We move out now," she sighed as she got to her feet, A-Transing into Panther and clawing her way out of the shelter around the opening.

"Shouldn't we try and get some more rest?" Grey asked. "Maybe we could both get a little sleep."

"No can do," Ashe replied as she finally tore her way out of the shelter, the cold air fully buffeting against Grey as he thanked being in Model A form. "You sleep out here too long, and you die. Plus, if we stay out here too long, then we're sure to get attacked again. Our only option is to keep moving."

Grey nodded, albeit a bit slowly, as he got to his feet and trudged through the thick snow, transforming into Model H as Ashe transformed into Model P, personally taking point since Grey had done a crappy job of it earlier. Something that Grey was slumping his shoulders over, and, with Model H' face, looked very unnatural.

* * *

"Should we stop and rest?" Grey asked as he trudged through the snow at what felt like an eternity later.

"Where? There's absolutely _nothing _in every direction," Ashe grumbled as she pulled out a digital compass magnetically hooked to her side. "Besides, the Compass that Prarie gave me says we're almost to the eye of the storm. Hopefully once we get there, there'll be something that we'll be able to use to get back to the shoreline."

"Or keep warm. It's _freezing _out here," Grey muttered. Even though his transformed state was muting out the cold, it wasn't completely overlooking it.

"The first thing I'm doing when I get to that control room or whatever the hell is causing this is punching it full of holes," Ashe muttered as she dredged through the snow. After what felt like forever of trudging through the snow and a few energy bars later, Grey saw fit to speak up.

"Ashe. Are we there yet?" he moaned as he continued to dredge his way through the snow.

Moments later, as if to answer that question, the blizzard cleared in front of them a bit. The two of them craned their necks as a massive black and white structure loomed over their heads, cylindrical in shape. The bottom level was at least three stories tall, another three story tall section above it that was slightly smaller than the one below it, the design feature repeating itself three more times, putting the building at around 150 feet tall. There were a few windows on its perimeter, and a low rumbling and whirring of machinery could be heard from behind the two massive steel doors that greeted them.

"Here's your answer," Ashe said as she dragged her feet through the ankle-high snow. "Come on. Let's get inside before I freeze my ass off out here."

"Way ahead of you," Grey groaned as he pushed his way through the snow, which wasn't as high since they were technically in the "calm zone".

* * *

When Ashe and Grey entered the large black and white-colored complex at the world's end, they noticed that while it was considerably warmer inside than it was outside, that it was still very cold. The floors, corners, and the grates had a thin layer of ice across them, and the place was quiet like a grave. The occasional burst of cold air would be "exhaled" through the pipes around them, so it may've been warm air meeting the cool.

"Well… This isn't so bad," Grey said stepping out of his Megamerge form and rubbing his shoulders, finding the temperature inside the base much more preferable to that of the _rest _of Antarctica.

"I'm going to try the radio. See if I can get any reception," Ashe said tuning the comm. device on her ear, the only thing she received being static for a few seconds before a voice suddenly came through.

"_KSSSSSHHHHHHHH- Ashe! Grey! Do you read me?" _Prairie asked over the communicator.

"Yeah, we're here," Ashe answered.

"_Sorry for the lack of assistance until now, but the storm was causing interference," _Prairie said over the high band. _"I'm just glad the two could make it to the center of the storm without too many problems. How was the trip?"_

"Cold. Very very cold," Grey shivered towards Ashe's mouth piece, his teeth chattering before she pushed him out of her personal space.

"Anyway Prairie, it looks like you were right," Ashe said as she twirled her blaster in her hands. "This storm _definitely _wasn't natural. Right now we're inside a massive facility at the heart of the continent, and I'd bet my next paycheck that whoever or whatever is running this place is at the center of this facility on the top floor."

_**WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!**_

**INTRUDERS DETECTED! INTRUDERS DETECTED! ACTIVATING DEFENSE MEASURES!**

"Crap, the alarms went off," Ashe grumbled as she looked into the corner of the room they had entered, eyeing a security camera before shooting it down. "Prarie, I'll call you back when things settle down. Gotta go," she said as she shut down the comm. link.

"I'll try not to slow you down this time," Grey said transforming into Model A form.

"You just cover the rear," Ashe said transforming into Model F. "And I'll take the front," she said as her knuckle busters formed, the duo running through the first door and into what would probably be a myriad of traps and formations of mechaniloids.

* * *

After a gauntlet of slippery floors, ice based-weaponry, white and blue-armored mechaniloids, natural hazards, and dancing around mines concealed under a layer of snow -which for some reason was _inside _the base-, the group finally made their way to a doubly-reinforced door at the top floor of the facility on the inside of a large circular hall. Had the Ice Boots chip been completed and given to them before they left for the mission, they wouldn't have had as many close calls as they had.

But, like Ashe said, there wasn't any use in complaining about it after it had happened. All there was left to do was deal with this area's "Boss" and call it a day.

"Here's the last door," Grey said as they came upon the a reinforced steel door at the back of the complex.

"Okay then. Let's blow the roof off this place," Ashe said as she and Grey walked forward.

* * *

When the two of them entered after going through a short hallway, which for some reason there was one before the room of every "Boss" character, the two of them suddenly slipped before falling onto their backs. Looking down, they saw that they were standing above a three inch-thick pane of glass-like ice inset into the floor below them, and that there were large pipes running over the ceiling overhead, cool air being constantly pumped into the room at random intervals from different valves keeping the temperature a consistent low.

"So, you are the ones who breached my new empire," a deep voice boomed. "I must say, you are not an impressive sight," it continued as a few lumbering steps drew their attention from the room.

When Ashe and Grey looked up, a very tall polar bear-type pseudoroid loomed above them, elongated neck craned forward. The majority of its body was encased in white armor, a black nose and orange eyes on its face, cold air being vented out of its neck from a blue and orange-armored collar and a blue metal band inset into its midsection. Its shoulders had blue armor over them, and its massive arms bore massive blue gauntlets with four fingers armed with pointed icicles on the tips of its paws. Its stocky legs had blue-armored shins, the feet orange-armored.

"So, you're the head honcho here huh?" Ashe asked as she paced around the pseudoroid's right flank, catching sight of a blue-tinted control room on the opposite end of the room from the door they just entered. "Now tell me, what exactly is this setup?"

"Well… Since you have braved the many dangers of my new empire, I guess I can tell you before I make you sleep," the pseudoroid said with crossed arms. "I am Poler Camrous, ruler of the World's End, and guardian of the Ice-Bringer."

"Ice-Bringer?" Grey asked as he paced around the pseudoroid's left flank, practically reading his sister's mind when he saw the unguarded control room, which he figured was _for _this Ice-Bringer.

"Yes. After my resurrection, my new master placed me here in the heart of this continent and gave me this wondrous machine," he said gesturing to everything around him. "This entire base, uninterrupted, acts as a weather generator, and will soon create an unending winter, and with it, my new empire to rule."

The next moment, he stomped his left foot onto the floor, sending out a wave of ice that froze Ashe and Grey's feet to the floor up to their ankles. He then stabbed his claws into the floor, a thick barrier of ice over the Ice-Bringer's control room affixing itself over the only entrance.

"Do not think I would not foresee such an obvious tactic," Poler Kamrous stated haughtily as Ashe and Grey tried to yank their feet from the frozen floor. "While it would be simple enough to make this wondrous facility cease function, you fail to realize that this is my world, and _I _control everything here," he continued as ice vented out of his neck and palms. "Now, sleep for eternity as I build my new empire. I am sure my master will appreciate the frozen offerings that will become your tombs."

"Yap yap yap talkin's all you're good for," Ashe said as she blasted a charge shot at her feet, sending it ricocheting across the floor under the imposing pseudoroid and blasting Grey's feet free as well.

"C'mon Ashe! Let's blast this bot and go home," Grey whined he rubbed his shins. "I can't feel my toes."

Whether he was serious with that statement or not was anyone's guess.

"Ah just put some hot water on it and you'll be fine," Ashe said with a wave of her hand before she brought out her blasters and aimed it at Poler Kamrous.

**Cue Mega Man ZXA Soundtrack – Rockin' On**

"Very well then. I accept your challenge!" Poler shouted as he drove his paws into the ground before a thick slab of ice rose over him -much like Thetis when he megamerges-, before shattering it from within, his body now covered in a translucent sheet of glass-like ice armor. Despite how it broke around his joints however, it held firm to his frame, at least in inch thick all around. At around the same time, more gas began to leak into the room through the vents.

"Yaaaaah!" Ashe shouted as she started skating to the side across the floor, her busters firing repetitively into his frame only for the rounds to bounce off. "Let's see how you like _this_," Ashe said as her field of vision turned blue. "Homing Shot!" she called as the eight crosshairs locked onto Poler's body, her charge shot striking the eight points only for them to bounce off harmlessly.

"Ha! Is that the best you got?" Poler asked as he held his paws together, twin vents of freezing gas forming before he chucked a thick ball of ice where Ashe was, narrowly hitting her but pelting her with some shrapnel.

"We're just getting started," Grey said as he continued to pelt Poler's rear flank with buster shots. "A-Trans!" he said as he transformed into Model L, running across the ice with seemingly no resistance before he leapt into the air and brought his halberd down Poler's chest right as he turned towards him, only for his weapon to have no effect.

"Fool. You're attacking me with my own element!" Poler said before his hands clamped down around Grey's form, the reploid kid fighting only in vain as he tried to escape the vice-like grip from the larger pseudoriod. "Freezing Hold!" he bellowed as the same freezing gasses from before were released from the vents. Moments later, Grey was completely covered in a half-inch-thick layer of ice.

"Grey!" Ashe cried before Poler threw him, the Hunter transforming into Model H and air dashing towards him, catching him in mid air before making it so that she hit the wall before her cousin.

"Eyaah! C-Coooold!" Grey shivered as he broke out of the ice a moment later, his features a little blue before regaining their natural color.

"Don't get too close to him unless you're _sure _you can get away," Ashe said as she and Grey got to their feet. "The last thing we need is for you to get CHEESE IT!" she suddenly cried as she used Grey's face as a springboard and sent them in opposite directions, a flurry of icicles impacting the wall where they once were, the remains of a smashed wall at Poler's feet.

"Hm. Seems you aren't as unattentive as I once thought," Poler mused with a hint of amusement in his voice before he erected another wall, this time kicking it across the floor towards Grey, who narrowly avoided getting crushed by the thick slab of ice.

"Ahhh! Kill it with fire!" Grey cried as he continued to dodge around slabs of ice, flurries of icicles, or balls of ice.

"A-Trans!" Ashe cried as she transformed into Model F, then launched a charge shot from her knuckle busters, sending a ball of fire that impacted Poler's back and left a wall of smoke around the impact site. When it cleared however, there was hardly a scratch on him. "Oh _come on_!" Ashe cried as the fireball had no effect, and on _ice _no less.

"A-Trans!" Grey called out as he transformed into Model P before kicking off the wall and using his Hanging Wedge to latch onto the ceiling, launching a flurry of kunai towards Poler's bulking frame with his free hand, only for the energy knives to bounce off before disappearing.

"Fool. Your attacks are futile!" Poler roared as he created another ice ball before chucking it at Grey, who dropped down only for the clumps of ice to fall on him after it broke on the wall and bury him slightly.

"Why don't you pick on someone your _own _size you eyesore!" Ashe yelled as she ran forward and struck Poler across the face with her Knuckle Buster, only for the pseudoroid to backhand her across the room, not even a scratch formed on his armor from the repetitive attacks.

"Hmph. Fools. At these temperatures, my Ice Armor is as strong as steel," Poler taunted. "It would be easier to simply give up. Especially with every passing second, you draw ever close to eternal sleep," he said pointing to Ashe, her armor slowly being covered in ice crystals from the temperature in the room, their breath almost immediately turning into ice crystals once it passed their lips.

"Heh. You guys just never learn do you?" Ashe said with a smirk as she flicked an ice crystal off her helmet. "A Hunter doesn't _know _the meaning of the words 'give up'. A-Trans!" she shouted as she ran forward and was enveloped in a flash of light. When it cleared, she had then transformed into Bifrost, and, spinning on her heel, used the Crocoroid's Tail Swipe attack, sending Poler sliding back, despite them being of equal size.

The next moment, Poler felt his back arch as Grey, now transformed into Model F, struck him in the back with one Knuckle Buster to stop his backwards momentum, then another sending him forward again, this time into Ashe's awaiting jaws.

Or at least that _would've _been the plan had Poler not stopped the jaws with his own brute strength.

"Did you think such a tactic would work against _me_?" Poler asked as he fought the Crocoroid's maw. "Even if I hadn't stopped your attack, my Ice Armor is more powerful than your Ice Fangs. You have no hope of breaking through my armor."

"Is that what you thought I was doing?" Ashe asked with a smirk, or at least the closest thing to a smirk she could get with Bifrost's maw. "I was just holding you in place. Now Grey! _**FERRRSH!"**_she hissed as she released a spray of ice onto Poler's hands and feet, freezing him in place.

The next moment the pseudoroid felt a pair of feet latch onto the armor on his back. Looking out the corner of his eye, he saw a green and blue condor-like pseudoroid with a skull-like helmet wielding a Flying V-esque guitar with energy strings held in its clutches.

"Time for my _SOLO_!" Grey screeched before his talons began raking across the strings, a loud series of screeching and wailing noises reverberating from the guitar. For a moment he thought it nothing more than some sort of madness, but to his horror the ice armor coating his body began to vibrate around his frame, cracks forming as the sound waves continued to bounce around the room, buffeting him from every side. "ROCK ON! YEAAAAAAAH!" he then screeched before he raised his free hand to the air and brought it down across the strings numerous times, deep bellowing sound waves flying directly into his armor and causing it to shatter chaotically, slabs of ice bouncing around the room as he found himself exposed.

"Nooo! My armor!" Poler cried before he suddenly felt the vice grip he held wrenched backwards, the Crocoroid's jaws held at 180 degrees apart from one another, only for them to suddenly clamp down around his neck and torso, his arms flailing uselessly at the sides.

"Here's a new trick I came up with," Ashe smirked as she raised each foot into the air before smashing it down into the ice, planting her feet before the gyros around Bifrost's neck began whirring loudly. "DEATH ROLL!" she cried as Bifrost's head began spinning on its axis, her fangs digging into Poler's armor before he was thrown to the side a few seconds later with a mighty heave, spinning in the air a few times before slamming into a wall and coming to rest on the ground, several large gashes now raked across his armor.****

"My… My body…" Poler groaned as he looked at himself, around a dozen breaches in his armor that sparked occasionally, a jolt of pain sent through his body as he tried to get up. The next moment however as Ashe lifted her feet out of the floor before returning to normal, a yellow-colored wheel with a row of orange spikes began rolling towards him, then leaping into the air revealing a yellow and orange hedgehog-like pseudoroid.

"Spark Ball!" Grey cried as he launched the five balls of electricity at the downed Poler point-black range, the electricity arcing through his exposed systems and causing a few mini-explosions across his body, Grey leaping away and resuming his Megamerge form as he stopped sliding alongside Ashe, right around the time that Poler was able to get to his feet.

"Looks like he's weakened. Time to finish him," Ashe said as she ran forward. "A-Trans!" she called out as she transformed into Model H. "Sonic Boom!" she called out with a double sword swing, sending an X-shaped wave through the air that cut straight through Poler's frame, freezing white gas leaking out of the breach moments later.

"N-Nooooo…" Poler cried as he fell to his knees. "How… How could I lose… to a pair of… children…?" he cried as the liquid nitrogen finally coated his frame, his body now encased and lined with ice.*****

"It's time to kiss your bot goodbye!" Ashe shouted as she transformed into Model F, Grey transforming into Vultron as they both rushed forward. They both then brought their knuckle buster and guitar down into their enemy's frozen form, his body shattering like glass with hunks of his body flying in every direction.

As Poler's icy remains melted away, the facility's temperature began to slowly rise, a glowing ball of light floating where he once stood. Ashe and Grey returned to normal in a flash of light, Model A by their sides as the light ball was absorbed into the chatty paperweight.

_"You captured Poler's DNA,"_ Model A chirped as he incorporated the pseudoroid's new data into his A-Trans library.

"Who are you talking to?" Grey asked.

_"_You_ you numb skull!"_ Model A hissed.

A few seconds later, the wall of ice protecting the control room shattered and fell to the ground in a heap of broken ice, its structural integrity somehow connected to Poler's "lifespan".

"Now then…" Ashe said as she cracked her knuckles in front of the defenseless control room. "How do you want to do this? Shoot, slash, or smash?"

"Smashing. Definitely smashing," Grey said rubbing his hands together like a kid in a candy store.

"_Hold it you two!" _Prairie ordered over the radio right as they stepped in. _"We can't destroy it while the machine is still active. If you do it the wrong way, we may not be able to stop the machine in time."_

"_In addition, we will need to see if the hard drives have any relevant data we can use to identify who we are dealing with," _Gardenia asked.

"_No good. I just checked the systems. It looks like whoever the pseudoroid's _Master _was had voided the systems of any incriminating data the moment his pawn was defeated," _Tulip continued.

"_Please refrain from touching anything until we're positive that the machine has been disabled," _Marguerite stated. _"Once that has been done, you'll be free to go. We'll have a pickup arranged for you once you make it back to the coastline."_

"If the blizzard is going to die down once the machine is disabled, then why don't you just send a plane here to pick us up?" Ashe asked.

"_It'll still be a while before the blizzard subsides enough to even attempt an aerial evac," _Prairie answered. _"That could take days, if not weeks, so it'll just be faster to get back to the shoreline where the weather conditions are more favorable. Sorry I can't do more guys."_

With that, Ashe and Grey shut off the comm. while lines of binary code began to run across the screens across the room, slowly dissecting all programs and permanently disabling all machinery.

"Well this is boring,"Grey moaned as he sat against the wall. _"After nearly freezing my ass off, I wanted to smash something," _he whispered to his sister, just in case Prairie was listening.

"_Don't worry. She didn't say we couldn't smash anything _after _they disabled the machinery," _Ashe whispered with an evil grin.

At that, Grey's smile could only widen, a low chuckle escaping from his lips. "Hehehehehehehe."

* * *

Ten minutes of senseless destruction later –after the machinery had been marked as disabled-, Ashe and Grey had come across a service elevator in the control room that led to the ground floor, a satisfied look on their faces as the temperature inside the facility began to increase steadily.

"Man that was satisfying," Ashe sighed as she stretched her back, falling back into her human form and dusting some ice off her clothing and out of her hair.

"Now I understand why you like shooting stuff this much," Grey said as he fell back into his replioid form. "It's so much fun."

"My brother, you have learned well," Ashe replied. "Now, let's get to that cargo hold we passed earlier and see if we can't find some top-quality booty."

"Is booty all you ever think about?" Grey asked.

"No," Ashe argued. "Sometimes I think about _booty _too. Heheheh."

"You just said the same thing twice," Grey argued.

_Ah to be young and naive, _Ashe thought to herself as the elevator door opened on the ground floor, making their way around the first hallway before finally coming upon the large steel door they'd passed earlier, which was now unlocked. "Now then. Let's pop this clam open and find our pearl."

The metal doors opened with a whoosh, the cargo hold slowly being lit up down its length by the automatic lights. When Ashe and Grey walked in, they immediately noticed a set of red and purple winter gear hanging on the wall; a set of hooded jackets, snow pants, boots, and gloves.

"Sweet! Free stuff!" Ashe squealed as she pulled the first set off the wall and put it on over what she was wearing. "You see this Grey. Now you don't have to worry about your toes."

"I guess…" Grey said as he pulled his off the nearby wall and held it in front of himself. "But still… this is an _awful _camouflage pattern."

"It's not for camouflage. It's so we won't blend into the background," Ashe said as she found a set of snow goggles on the wall and slipped them over her forehead before looking around. "Crap! It looks like the last people here took all the_ good_ stuff and ran," she muttered as she looked around the room, the majority of it stripped clean. "Crap."

"Hey Ashe! Look at this!" Grey said as he pulled a large tarp over something. "What is it?" he asked as soon as he pulled the tarp aside.

"Ah, so they left a snowmobile unattended," Ashe said as she looked the black and white machine over. "Hmmm. The keys are still in the ignition, but…" she said as she turned it, the engine starting with a slight roar. "Yes! It's got a full charge!"

"Great! Now we don't have to _walk_ back," Grey said as he was about to hop on, only for Ashe to turn the vehicle off. "Hey!"

"Not yet," Ashe said as she twirled the key before dropping it into her pocket. "We may've found a snowmobile with a full charge on it, but we need to see if whoever was here last left any power cells behind, otherwise, this thing could tap out in the middle of nowhere, and we'd _still _have to walk."

"Ugh. Fine. I'll look," Grey muttered as he began to walk along the walls, opening crates but finding nothing but expired perishables or just empty crates.

Ashe looked around too. After a few minutes, she had a broad smile on her face as she tossed one of the lids aside. "Jackpot!"

"Did you find the power cells?" Grey asked from across the cargo hold.

"No, keep looking," Ashe said as she started pushing the crate out into the hall.

"Where are _you _going?" Grey asked. "What did you find?"

"Got one last thing to take care of," she replied as she pushed the crate down the hallway. "This stuff's still good, and I'm not one to waste."

Grey just sighed as he continued looking through crates. "Ugh. Girls," he groaned. "Hm? Where'd that come from? Ah whatever," he sighed as he continued to look through the crates around.

* * *

A half hour later, a black, white, purple, and red dot slowly made its way from the massive ex-Ice-Bringer. The dot was then revealed to be Ashe and Grey driving away on the black and white snowmobile, the blizzard finally subsiding outside so you could see more than a few meters in front of your face.

As Grey held onto Ashe's sides, she flicked a metal device's cap with her thumb repetitively. After a few more minutes, Ashe flicked the lid up once again and pressed her thumb down on a bright red button.

The next moment, a massive plume of smoke rose up from the top floor, a black smear rising into the sky as the few windows lining the perimeter were blown out.

"What the hell?" Ashe demanded as she brought their vehicle to an abrupt stop. "Only the ones on the _top _floor went off!"

"You were setting up ex_plosives_?" Grey cried in shock.

"Yes! And I thought I'd done a good job of it!" Ashe hissed. "DAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMN!" she cursed as she began to press the button rapidly, nothing happening for several minutes until she just threw the trigger onto the ground. As Ashe continued to rant angrily, Grey hopped off of their vehicle, digging through the snow and pulling out the silver and red bomb trigger.

"Shit! If there weren't enough explosives in there to kill one of us, I'd set them off myself!" Ashe ranted as Grey slowly lifted the cap his thumb slowly descending to the button. "Damn damn damn damn damn!" she growled as the reploid kid's button finally descended onto the button with a soft click.

The next moment the ground shook as the lower levels of the building up to the top blew out consecutively, a thick black smear rising into the sky as the building collapsed into its own footprint.

Ashe just stared into the distance, her jaw slack as the black column dissipated in the wind.

"_Well_…" Grey said as he dusted the snow off his gloves and pocketed the trigger. "I think we've seen enough here," he said as he pushed Ashe toward the bike, lifting her off her feet and putting her on the back seat. "Come on. I'll drive," he said as he took the vehicle's controls and drove off into the distance, the female Hunter still dumbstruck.

* * *

**Due to the establishment of "walled cities" across the globe, and the fact that by that time everything about Antarctica had already been catalogued before the Maverick Wars took place, it would make sense that no one would have any business on the "bottom of the world", except for those who had a real **_**reason **_**to. **

**And by that I mean no one unless they were either A) trying to create a new ice age with an insidious plot, or B) stop said ice age from ever occurring and/or acquiring any "booty" that's left lying around.**

**As for Ashe's dialogue, I'm trying to find the right mix of both "feminine" and "Hunter" elements to use when writing for her. Writing dialogue for a colorful character like Ashe is a tricky business (since all I have to go on is video game dialogue), but I hope I've managed. If did or not, let me know in a Review please. **

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
*This bit here was taken from the first episode of Mega Man Beast, where the same thing happened to Lan. Only difference was that Lan had a jetpack.**

****I don't know what onomatopoeia to use for the sound of a dog-like mechaniloid yelping.**

*****Like the Garm in the previous chapter, but with white armor and adapted to the snow, called Snow Garm.**

******Alright, on the night before I actually bought Mega Man ZX Advent, I remember a piece of a dream I had where Bifrost's head was spinning like a drill and was tearing through stuff. I then remembered that members of the Crocodyliae family (commonly referred to as crocodiles) spin around on an axis once they have their jaws clamped shut around something, most often dubbed the "death roll", which is commonly used by both Crocodiles and Alligators when they need to tear their prey apart. There hasn't been anything to confirm that Bifrost's head **_**can't **_**spin on its axis, and the base of its neck behind his head **_**honestly does**_** look like the mouth of a jet engine, with his head mounted on the end of the spinning blades. For that reason I decided to add onto Bifrost's attack repertoire, but mainly because Poler Kamrous is the only pseudoroid close enough in size for something like this work without the target being spun around inside Bifrost's jaws.**

*******This last part was actually inspired by Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, from that one droid armed with the carbonite gas that Starkiller used to "freeze" it (after defeating it in the "action sequence") before smashing it into pieces. The melting at the end was my own touch, which I thought to be more believable in this instance than the usual "catastrophic detonation".**

* * *

**PROFILE**

**=Poler Kamrous  
****-Ice Ball – Half-Charge. Throws freezing snowball in overhead arc at nearest enemy.  
****-Ice Wall – Full-Charge. Creates a 3-hit-strong wall of ice directly in front. Spikes on top.  
****-Wall Crash – Use Slash attack on Ice Wall, sending ice shards forward.  
****-Freezing Hold – Grabs nearest enemy and blasts with freezing blast. 75% freeze status potential.**

**IN-GAME DETAILS**

**=Main/Sub - Claws (Melee  
****-3-Slash attack. Left, right, left. **

**-Wall Jump - N/A  
-Jump – N/A  
-Mobility - Same as Bifrost. Is not affected by ice.**

**-Element: Ice****  
-Weakness: Fire**


	16. REWRITE NOTICE

**For those of you reading ****Mega Man ZXA: Recurrence****, this is not an update, but a bulletin to announce that this story is being re-written.**

**The re-write will contain greater exposition, additional content, re-telling of some chapters, and extended "Boss Battles", as well as some other surprises set along the way.**

**After this, the next chapter posted will be to announce that the re-write of ****Mega Man ZXA: Recurrence**** will be available for reading****.**

**For those of you who have been reading ZXA: R to this point, I apologize for the inconvenience, and hope that the better quality of the re-write will help make up for it, so, until next time. R.O.C.K. On!**


	17. REWRITE BULLETIN

**The Re-Write of Mega Man ZXA: Recurrence, Mega Man ZXA:R Redux, has now been written, the Story Summary and first Chapter written.**

**Chapters shall be re-written and will come out when said re-writes are complete. From that point, the story will follow its intended storyline.**


End file.
